


The Force Always Says Yes

by azhiraz



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Legends: Last of The Jedi Series - Jude Watson
Genre: Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Heterosexual Sex, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Mature Situations, Sexual Situations, Ship the force
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 00:06:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 28,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13306206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azhiraz/pseuds/azhiraz
Summary: Kylo Ren is bent on seducing Rey for his own secret power quest to balance the force, but somehow, the Force manages to get its own way with both of them. It's a bit of a slow burning story at first, but ignites a few chapters in around 6 & 7.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimers: There is no intent of profit, personal credit or the passing-off of work as the author's own; The Star Wars The Force Awakens is owned by George Lucas and the Disney Corp; the peerless Billy Idol has full rights and ownership to Flesh for Fantasy lyrics. It's all been written just for the fun of it and to fulfill Muse's latest intrigues with the juxtaposition between fantasy and The Force, in her own wicked way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a step out the canon...or several...it is a slow moving story, but eventually heats up to explicit erotica a few chapters in. Enjoy the ride, and let the Force do with you as it may....

They all thought Kylo Ren was an isolated man, kept celibate as a monk during his Ren apprenticeship, or worse, an asexual pawn, broken from a man into a tool by Snoke, tortured by endless ‘lessons’, which were rumored to be the most jaded and perverse of desires. In truth, Snoke’s lessons were mental projections into the mind of the person, never physical. A master of the darkness in the Force, he’d even made Kylo think he was burning his hand, after ordering him to thrust it into a porcelain water jar from Naboo. He felt the unpleasant prickle at once, swiftly growing into a acidic scald, escalating into unspeakable pain as he imagined the flesh scorching and peeling back, dropping off in grey ash as his delicate finger bones charred to black. He’d endured the pain only by keeping his mind focused on the single mantra that it was a test, and one day, he would find a way to make Snokes feel this very exquisite, never-ending, torturous pain.

Snoke only cackled at the thought and gave a rare praise: “ It’s uncommon that a page of the knighthood has the maturity to live to hate beyond today’s pain, young Kylo. So…hate me. It is the perfect beginning of wisdom. ”

The power of sexuality had ceased to interest Snoke for quite some time, so Kylo’s Kama Sutra was just a mass of odd bits of experiences he’d gleaned from other’s minds and kept hidden away, much like a jackdaw. His love lessons as a child were fraught with neglect of his needs, as his parents poured passion into greater causes, away weeks, months at a time, and when together, seemed immersed in only each other. He’d learned he was not the center of their lives quite early, and brokenhearted, his goodness wilted; his heart became barren and closed off to others. He began to look for ways to control his little universe and fill his needs, he sought power and found the force. And the dark side found him.

Kylo was young, and angry that his youth, his perfectly balanced body, his entire self would be wasted before he could find a complement to himself. It was something he yearned for, not to be alone when the doors to his private room shut. Not just anybody or anything, but a true match in intelligence, skill and mettle. Someone who could say ‘no’ to him without the fear in their thoughts that they would die for saying the damned word to the 1st knight of Ren.

Other knights had bonded with each other, or had a partner; all he had was Snoke, and he felt the sting of being mismatched to an ancient piece of flesh who knew everything and cared for nothing but power.

It wasn’t that he was forbidden to mingle, he’d had contact with many women in the first order, from the cool elegant mistress of Hux to the buzzing insectile minds of the upper service hives of medics, logistics and techs. There were also knights of Ren trainees, slaves, and servants of the first order’s empire whose grasp of power was surprisingly similar to their owners: they both thought of usurping him, and making him the servant. Physical beauty was a frequently used tool to gain a foothold of the personal heir-apparent to Snoke, but they all found out too late that Kylo was a true master of Ren, with the un-ending cunning of a Hoth Ice-warrior and the cool calculating discipline of a Sith.

The attempted coups and seductions were never-ending, and Kylo took great pleasure in the hum of gossip in the FO bases; he wanted, no, ensured his master Snoke knew of them. It was the best of shields, as his secret desire was quite counterintuitive to his master’s wishes.

It started with the helmet, slowly drawn off and shut away in its shrine; then the cloak, falling softly to the floor, an opaque black hole against the shining universe of black marble. The black hole expanded as gloves, tunic, and the rest of the clothing on his body fell away, until he was reborn, glowing palely as Titian’s Venus Rising, stripped naked for all to see. Or, in this case, for only one.

He was ready, after years of immersion in the dark side of the force, to experience the light.


	2. Chapter Two

   Kylo Ren found the secret of the Force, and never shared it, never spoke of it, and held it safe all this time. He'd known ever since he was with Master Luke Skywalker; he wasn't being selfish, he was simply scared shitless at age 17. He knew Luke wasn't the one to bring balance to the Force, nor was it Leia, his mother, or any other Jedi he'd known. The only one who could have done it was Anakin, his grandfather. Even Snoke was weak, he clung to the darkness, refusing to even think that he could touch the light and attain ultimate power.

   He didn't want to be dark or light, neither Kylo or Ben, but something...else. Something that was all-encompassing, something more true to the nature of life, a savagely innocent being who could walk in shadow and sun and fear nothing.

    After a decade under Snoke, he was thoroughly weary of the acquisition of power and absolute seriousness of the First Order's ways; he wanted...an adventure, not the power plays and endless monotony of obedience. The desert scavenger girl from Jakku's sense of adventure intrigued the lean young knight. The raw power Rey exuded was a fresh novelty to his jaded mental palate, despite the humiliating ass-whipping he'd received on Starkiller. His fingers began to idly stroke his facial scar, thinking of the times they'd been in contact. He hated that she'd scarred him so, and he felt her anger like a hot scald, even after all this time afterwards. Yet...it wasn't complete hatred; he'd glimpsed the underlying attraction.

    The way she carried on and defied him despite her initial fear surprised him; usually his interrogations were quick, resistance was nowhere to be found in the quaking minds of dissidents. Her defense and push back reminded him of the first time he had defied Snoke. At age 18 he became feral over a bit of memory he wanted to keep private, and stared down the yellow jackal's eyes of the old leader, resisting with all his might. Snoke's mental force was a battering ram and his will was crushed, but then....something happened. Snoke stopped dead, his will held at bay by a small glow of absolute nothingness. It was like the tiniest flex of an invisible muscle, yet it held firm against the will of the evil thing with ease. And this simple scavenging slip of a girl had done the same without any training.

    Something about that battle in the woods made things change; Kylo felt more than saw the shift in the flow of the Force. It was as if the Force itself had pushed the two of them together in its massive currents and encysted them, creating a bubble of space invisible to all, except Kylo and Rey. Whatever it was, Kylo was determined to take advantage of the freedom from Snoke and the First Order, and be damned to all of it, if it meant escape. 

    What was also different was the feeling of connection to Rey - it was like he was next to her, especially when he was on the edge of sleep, or drifting along the Force-currents in his daily meditation sessions. A glimpse of sky through her eyes, the feel of tired arms holding a staff, a bubble of pleasure as a hot tea warmed her belly. He was also aware the connection was two way, she was an invisible visitor for nanoseconds in his daily life also. He'd read about this phenomena before, but the text was very old, and full of flowery phrases, as it was a Jedi scroll. He could only decipher at first that a group of people could join minds for a larger shield of defense. He'd not imagined that just two people could join...until now. He dropped the original pursuit of joined mind-weapon, as he was painfully aware that managing a group of trained knights of Ren in a mental collective effort was like herding cats. And it was far more exciting to think of seducing...and being seduced... by only one being.

   The same Jedi scroll also gave Kylo the first hint to solving the puzzle of the great secret of bringing balance to the force; his boyish fantasy of a shining savior descending on the populace of the universe gave way to a more mature vision of bringing opposing forces together _;...you're dark, but not quite dark, or white, but not pure white...you're always a shade of grey...it's like an ancient set of weighing scales, two masses brought into equality. Can the Force be balanced equally?...What if it's not a question of how much dark and light exists, it must be equal already, or the fabric of the universe would be torn apart. Maybe...it's more like how to control the proportions we use?  What if it took just two, and not a group of beings?  Two leaders, each great and proud, from opposing houses; the black and white opponents on the chessboard; the king has a queen...But no one I've known has been equal to me. Stars, give me an equal._

And so, the 1st knight of Ren prayed as such when he sat in front of his grandfather's mask for years. The never-ending dreary and lightless years of complete servitude to Snoke, letting himself be carried light as a leaf on a stream that was blood, war and darkness, keeping that box of nothingness shut to everyone and everything, hoping against hope that match would appear. A match that somehow had arisen from the middle of nowhere, a backwater of a planet with low probability of Force sensitives, and had eyes of sparkling hazel deep enough for a man to drown in...

_What am I waiting for?  Permission? It won't happen unless I have someone as strong as me; and she's strong-but is she ready? Only one way to find out_.

Kylo sat down in meditation position, and began the breath exercises to prepare for his first adventure: a courting call to Rey via their force bond.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: The phonetics of the word for scorpion in Arabic is Qraba. Since Rey is a scavenger on a desert planet, the affectionate reference seemed to fit.

   Rey had herself an oddly stressful day, full of failures and unexpected sights on the island. The Jedi practice hurt her head as well as her body, and some part of her longed for the warmth of Jakku, or at least a better blanket to block the damp chill of the night. She wondered if she'd ever get used to living in a place surrounded by more water than entire planet of Jakku held, and was mildly ill at ease with the burgeoning wealth of the element. 

   She'd felt more connected with the land on the other planets they'd visited, even the Starkiller base had a familiar comfortable feel, under all the snow. A memory surfaced, the snow luridly tinted in ruby red as the enraged knight of Ren swung his lightsaber, then morphing to cobalt as her own weapon arced up to meet it.  She wondered what Kylo was like, was he always so murderous? So emotionally intense? It seemed to her the energy of the lightsaber was the color of his soul - violent, primal, his blood boiling with volcanic heat at the least provocation....A bubble of humor overcame her as she visualized him melting the snow like magma as he bled... _Bet you're so full of poison you'd burn anyone with a drop, master Ren...HA!_

_...Actually, the blue flame burns hotter than red...Miss Rey._

Oblivious, Rey snorted to herself and spoke into the damp air: "Tell that to my toes, you kriffing scorpion  - Stars, I'd kill for a bit of heat..."

 _...If you knew the force like I do, you'd be warm as a summer day  on Jakku. Such a pity you said no. What pair of scorpions we'd make in Jakku's sun._ The voice was pure silk velvet, precisely enunciated with a hint of accent betraying his patrician heritage, and achingly sensual, even when delivering that delicate pinprick of insult back to her ears. 

 _What the-? Is he-? Oh stars, I DID hear him..._ Rey let her mind open, sending a tendril out to quest and  with a shock, felt the familiar sensation of red-heat-that-was-Kylo-Ren, sitting an mental arm's length from her mind, exuding an aura of something that wasn't an intrusion. Actually, it seemed...mannerly...polite. 

" Shall we...talk?"

   Slowly she nods, and sits on the cold stone ledge as the dreaded epitome of the First Order drifts into her gaze, molecule by molecule.

   Rey sees him, the contact puzzling her, then giving way to a slow shock as the lustrous hazel irids take in the pale skin of his unclothed torso, with its whip lean swordsman’s build, tight abdominals bunching and flexing with each breath, the thick slabs of pectorals balanced with long arms that seem more sculpted by a divine artist than by endless hours of practice. Her eyes roamed restlessly, as they desperately hunted for a distraction, but not a single tattoo or piece of self-adornment marred the marble white expanse of Kylo Ren’s skin, not even a child’s ring piercing a dusky aureole.

   Rey wanted to be disgusted, her mind kept saying _by the freaking force, it’s Kylo Ren, the evil of evil, he’s a monster!..._ yet something inside her whispered: _how can something so evil and dark look so..so..beautiful?_

    _Oh **yeah** ,_ her mind jeered _ain’t nothin’ as handsome as sin…_

   Beauty was never one of Kylo’s strengths, at least in his opinion. He silently turned away from mirrors thinking whatever he was inside was obvious on the outside. He frequently haunted minds of people, waiting until they were asleep to wander in their memories, curious as a cat. It was a useful skill, he could take what he needed without expending so much of himself; the Force could drain one just as easily as recharging.

   So, it was rather shocking to see himself in Rey’s mind; she thought he was **handsome** , an echo of Han Solo in the steady gaze, the height and that reckless factor which was charming on Han, but gave Kylo an air of unpredictability, and therefore was dangerous as a madman. A tumble of chestnut locks fell over a long face that possessed a rather hypnotic elegance, illuminated by dark eyes that spoke clearly of the mood of the being within.

 Rey was confused, as the man was not looking at her with hatred or anger; it was strange too, to see him in an intimate setting, no armor, no shroud like cape, no gloves to hide the iron fists that resided within the blood-soaked leather. With considerable bravado she threw out her challenge: "What brings you here, Master Ren? to me, here, of all places? I'm learning from Him, you know. DO you want to learn, too?"

"Mmm...do scorpions ask so many questions? Or do they just go for the sting, like you? ...You and I are connected, somehow. It occurred to me the Force wants it that way, but I don't know why...don't you want to know why. Mistress Rey? Or are you more curious why I don't haven't been laser-inked or pierced in the name of the Order?" a delicate intake of air was taken before he continued the one way dialogue: " I'm curious...and I think the Force has a mind of its own when it comes to us. Kylo and Rey. Two children of two great houses, alike in honor and power, brought together in the Universe fair....it wants something to happen. In fact, *I* want something to happen.  So do you, in your own way. So I'm here to ask two questions."

"One: What do you really want to happen, Rey?"

   The voice gently, melodically dropped a half step, the vocalizations gently rasping like the blackest of velvet against her ears, teasingly drifting away, just out of reach, like a fastidious cat, only to return and rub its coal black fur against her when she thought it was gone. She wanted Kylo's  voice to keep speaking, tell her something more about himself, something intimate, playful, so she could look up with a flash of hazel at his face and see his own eyes change from black steel to something warmer. 

   "I'd want you to turn, or die, sir.". the phrase came out a bit defiant from the satin rose lips, but the cry inside her was filled with longing: _..I....I wish it were different. There shouldn't be a dark side...and sometimes I think the light isn't all what it's supposed to be, either. I wonder...what you'd be like, if you weren't part of the First Order....what if we were just Ben and Rey? could we be friends?_ Her mind supplied the hidden complementary phrase in a soft mental sigh: _Could we be..lovers?_

   _How can she see my mood so clearly? Even Snoke can’t read me unless *I* let him in, how does she see…me? She’s just as light as I am dark…a perfect opposite. How can I convince her I need her light? Stars, even a splinter will do._ His face blanched a touch as he weighed the impact of the next question, then throwing pride away, he asked the 2nd question:

"Two: Can you help me?"

   Rey's gaze was startled, the lips now parted in breathless excitement; " Help you?" 

   Kylo spoke directly, mind to mind, the voice still a cat's paw of velvet: _Help me...b_ _ring the light into me. The Force wants it. I feel it. Can't you?_

   "How?"

_The 3rd scroll of the Force says: "A Jedi centers himself in meditation: Think not of attachment or possession. Offer the darkness naught but unconditional love, and persuade the light to accept the impurity of the darkness...._

_Then it goes on to say: Behold the imbalance as one who has been consumed wholly by one side or the other; to prevent such imbalance always welcome a touch of the opposite into your purity; even if a drop dilutes your inner purity, equilibrium will reign...._

_We...have to....connect. Help  to guide me into unconditional acceptance until it becomes part of me. And ....I think it has to be done in the Well of Souls on the Island.  Anywhere else won't be strong enough._

Then like a 10 second sunset, the force bond faded into silent darkness and she was alone again. 

After sitting stunned for some time, Rey finally lay down on her monkish bed, full of thoughts at the unexpected meeting; she drifted off in a haze of dead-end answers to her confused questions,  her toes now warm from the invisible heat rising from the cold stone of her bed. 

 _Enjoy my sting, e'qraba,_ The voice delivering the intimate sobriquet with a subtly malicious glee.


	4. Chapter Four

The next morning, both Kylo and Rey went about their day with a faint shimmer, each secretly hugging the secret of their force bond tryst to themselves. Rey felt sure Kylo was about to turn to light, the act of warming her bed seemed to show the knight had developed some feelings of empathy; she found herself lost in a daydream more than once in the morning, visions of Kylo Ren betraying his First Order with feelings much gentler than complete annihilation and mind-rape.

Rey imagined herself the wise and compassionate Jedi-priestess, guiding him to manifestations of his feelings. One particular fantasy brought her to trembling as she imagined the conversation turning to how to express feelings without words; it rapidly segued from acts of kindness to the physical acts, like touching, holding a hand, a chaste kiss on the forehead or cheek...The Force gently slipped through with a gentle breath and extracted a memory that was pure heroin to her ripening woman's body.  The remembrance of the spicy-clean scent of Kylo's skin and hair during interrogation filled her body with a slow-blooming rush, the fine hairs at the nape of her neck erecting in waves of unspeakably sweet sensations as the intimacy escalated. Her own mind betrayed her with a freeform dream, his voice breaking in humiliation as he breathed the word _please_ , his dark locks brushing her face like black silk as his wide full mouth explored her summery cheek, the warm exhalation gently tickling her ear, building into a silent crackle of energy that teased and tormented the very core of her, until she turned into the touch-turned-caress, her own mouth seeking his, exploring its firm contours, until the world tilted on its axis and exploded in fire, the heat of lips and tongue burning into her....

_...Stop this, will you whore yourself so easily for the good of the Force?_

_Yep,_ her rebellious body eagerly replied. Rey sternly addressed herself: _Quit being so foolish, girl....He's probably had everything under the stars offered to him, why would he even consider you, when he's had all the pleasure and beauty of the Empire to amuse him? He's a complete jade. He's a royal. You're a scavenger._

She then threw herself into her Jedi exercises and katas, skittishly ignoring the daily meditation, in case the force bond would send even a nanosecond of contact with the forbidden knight of the First Order. 

The Force would find a way, later. It always would, once the wheels of connection were set into motion. There were no rules and no order, it simply soaked up all the input from both beings, and like a bio-computer, albeit one that spanned galaxies,  it analyzed the billions of bytes of data and came to conclusion. It understood them, and influenced the speeding electrons and protons in the invisible rivers of its biomechanoid structure across the universe and concluded a single word: _yes._

Mental creation is a simple process. You provide the input when your mind focuses on any idea, whether conscious or unconscious. The Force energizes, organizes, and solidifies the idea into your life experience. Its the ability to keep that focus without wavering that is the challenge. If you allow yourself to be distracted, or your focus shifts, even for mere moments, to doubts or fears, the results will be junk, and manifestation does not occur when you need it to.

The force bond was unique to Rey and Kylo; the openness in them to the power of the Force made it easier to create a bridge from conscious mind to conscious mind. With others, it had to burrow into the subconscious through the night dreams or bring in visual imagery when the state of mind was altered by drugs or alcohol.

The Force understood what both of them wanted, even if their conscious minds told a different story. This was no sterile process or immaculate conception, it was up close and personal, skin on skin, the shredded-shirt-hair-pulling-face-slapping-mouth-raping-bed-breaking-every-inch-of-flesh-kissed-bitten-tasted-worshipped-mind-blowing-fuck-of-the-century; a never ending atomic bomb explosion of passion that expressed the hidden fires of desire for the nemesis of their existence.

The future beyond the point of joining was of no difference to the Force, all it did was make the opportunity happen; a small space, a rift in time, the slightest opening of a door, all due to the manipulation of the Force doing as its supplicants desired.

In its vast mind, Kylo and Rey were saying _bring us together_. It had done so many times across the galaxy for other life forms: Draxis and Elencho, Anthony and Cleopatra, I?xcho and O!chkuk, Romeo and Juliet, Anakin and Padme...

 


	5. Chapter Five

_How can I see you again?_

Kylo's sudden and rather impatient query startled Rey; she had been trying to wash herself, as the damp combined with her sweat and left her with the feeling that her skin was coated in a layer of invisible sludge. She heartily wished for the clean dry heat of the desert to let her sweat and cleanse her, and bake until the last memory of this damned sodden chill evaporated into oblivion.

She grabbed at her tunic, only to have it slip away in a flirtatious flutter; she growled and tilted her head in an attitude most unbecoming for a young lady and snapped: "Give it back. NOW."

_If you had even 10% of the lessons I had by Master Luke, you'd not have to ask, E'qaraba._

"Can....I....Get...Decent...Now?" Was delivered through gritted teeth; her mood turned foul, fed up with all the harsh lessons of Master Luke and taunts by invisible kriffing bastards half a universe away, in a warm room and no nasty fish smelling damp  hut.

_Close your eyes._

"NO. Giveitback." was the feral growl from the young lady-who-was-not.

 _Close.Your.Eyes_. Kylo's voice commanded, each word punctuation unto itself, in a tone that would brook no opposition. She heeded and her eyelids dropped over the sparking hazel irids. She felt heat suffusing through her feet, on her head, gently working its way into her.

_Now open._

Rey's jaw dropped, as the bright sun of Jakku assaulted her, sending a sweet sun shower of delicious heat cascading over her; she sensed someone standing behind her, close enough to touch, the heat of his own body and breath on her hair and cheek bringing a different sort of warmth into her as well. The tunic did a mocking twirl, then sedately settled itself on her in a modest drape. Rey allowed herself the secret luxury of a 115 degree Fahrenheit fantasy for a moment more before speaking.

"This won't convince me to go the dark side, Master Ren."

"Why do you think everything is about you, Mistress Rey? Allow me to remind you that I am the one who is changing sides here. You seem to be remarkably uninterested after my confession. Is it that you need a desert to make that poison in that tongue of yours run hot again? Planning  on being the dupe and going to sting me to death, are you? The shame." He gently, unkindly tsk'd in reply.

"So. you wanted to see me again?  Do you need a lesson in the light? Is there something the Jedi scrolls can't tell you already? Or are you just aching for a chance to sheathe your sword in me after a bad day on the base? I'm sure Hux can be a kriffing ass."

"The delights of Hux's assdom will have to wait. I've made a plan to leave the First Order after this. They will likely come looking for you, for answers, for blame; a scapegoat. You need to prepare for that. Master Luke won't be enough, despite his formidable skills.  You need to start learning more defense technique, you need a place to go to and stay out of the eye of the Order, until they get my message."

"Look...the way I see it is that you are going to do me a life-altering favor; so something of my life should be yours to use, in your defense...in your favor...your survival." Kylo couldn't help himself, he leaned in a little closer, letting the dark strands of his hair intermingle with hers and brush her cheek as he murmured with that marvelously intimate voice near her ear: "... _please..._ consider it."

The fantasy brought to life weakened Rey to the point of an unguarded reply: _Kylo Ren, you manage to do the damnedest things to my best defense..." A_ lright, I'll consider." Then crossly: "Just keep your hands to yourself, or I might decide my saber needs a fight, Master Ren."

Kylo removed the hand that had somehow drifted to her bare shoulder during their virtual trip to Jakku, and almost smiled before the force bond contact started to dissolve.

However, It didn't stop him from delivering a most ungentlemanly prod in a tender place as he quipped: "Oh, my sword is ready to do battle with you, Mistress E'Qaraba!"

Rey's screech of outrage fell on the empty stone walls of the dank hut; however, her anger faded as the words he had said began to sink in. She became fearful, then brave again, as she thought of all the knowledge and power that a first ranked knight of the First Order could possess; surely he could disguise her, hide her with ease, even give her a new identity, money, weapons, a starship to maneuver through the star systems. She loved the Falcon, but it was so easily identified. She needed to be anonymous after this. She'd been alone before, so it wouldn't be too hard on her now.

The Force again exerted its influence; this time it leveraged the snake-charm of Kylo's vocals by heightening the deeper quality of resonance as he said the words _your defense...in your favor..._

The words rang like a bell in Rey's mind, it played on her secret desires to be treasured, wanted, protected....he sounded so quaint, so old-fashioned, like he was a not knight of a soulless computerized citadel, but a champion of ages lost, inspired by pure and noble motives.She suddenly longed for the safety of strong arms holding her, protecting her, a place to lay her head without fear of being hunted or fates worse than death. _Maybe he and I could just disappear and travel the same road together for a while?_ She resolved to ask him tomorrow-but right now she had to sleep and warm herself somehow, or she'd be useless in the morning. Rey sighed as she laid down on the narrow pallet, the coolness from the rock seeping through within moments.

Rey lay there in the dark, uncomfortably changing position 5 times before she called on the invisible current of the Force and sent a query down the trail of Kylo's psychic footprints; in minutes, she contentedly drifted off to sleep, her bed now soft as a sand drift and warm as a Jakku sunrise.


	6. Chapter Six

The next day, Rey went about her practice with a light step, and rushed through her dinner of peat-fire seared fish steak and seaweed to hurry back to the privacy of her monk's hut, claiming a good night's sleep would help her. She boldly threw out a call to contact, the electrons zinging with her energy; a faint air of puzzlement from Kylo preceded his acknowledgement, then he smoothly covered it, and quietly waited for her to initiate conversation. He was wary, as the last conversation showed Rey's thornier side. _There are only so many insults a man can take in the pursuit of his desires,_ he wryly admitted to himself; _She's strong, but soooo resistant._ _Resistance leads to fear, which will kill my chances to take in the light. Maybe I'm not so attractive, after all._

_Hey. Can you talk?_ Rey's contact was tinged with nervousness covered with casual cool.

_What is on your mind today, Mistress Rey?_

_That thing you did last night...the sun on Jakku -I can learn that?_

_Projection and control are the foundations of Force manipulation._

Rey chewed her lip for a long moment, hiding the slow buildup of glee then suddenly replied: _Whatthehellwhynot? Where can we meet up tonight?_

Silence.

Perplexed, she added: _I have a ship, 20 klicks no problem. Um -you have a pressing appointment or something?_

It was closest Kylo ever came to stuttering, but he managed to pronounce: _No. I'm free. Do you want your first lesson, then?_

_You might say that. You're right, they'll come after me, if I get you to accept even a molecule of light, Master Ren. Another question? What else can you create with your mind? Um...I heard Poe and this tech talk about a place-Canto Bight? They said it was like a whole city of celebrations. I've never seen tha-_

_Hux takes his mistress there, when he's not being an ass. Coordinates 1356.110/766.1 at 7.13 degrees elevation from Sun in sector IV system Adonna. Ask for docking station 13, and when asked, inform them you are a prima nocta guest tonight._

_Whoa!_ Rey thought after she withdrew from the force bond. _That was fast. He doesn't hesitate, doesn't beat around the bush, just delivers; he really is more like a scorpion._ She shrugged. _At least I can relate to a scorpion. Insane dark Sith Lords, not so much. Stars, this is insane; the biggest hope of the dark side wants to defect to the light, and I'm the one conspiring with him._ _Well, who said the ways of the Force were straight lines and right angles, eh?_

3 hours later, she was striding down the entry ramp of docking station 13 and wearing her I'm a privileged guest and I don't give a kicking kriff what I look like" look on her face, hiding her growing anxiety that no one, notably Kylo, was there to tell her where to go, and uneasily eyeing the growing mountain of glittering lights that illuminated the city of Canto Bight.

"Who might you be looking for, young mistress?" A rusty voice inquired; the owner fell into step with Rey, who seemed like any other dockhand, spry and gleamy-eyed, dressed in his dockhand blues.

"A friend. A professional...peer." _Shards and splinters, where do I find him? I should have had him name a place. I have no idea where to look. Maybe I should ask the Force, but I have to meditate, and to meditate I have to sit...and it'd look strange if I sat down on the dock. I'd be pinned as a fake. What if this dockhand is a sec man? Or worse, a spy? Time to be charming._

Rey gave her best "I'm enchanted' glance upwards at the dockhand, who seemed a bit taller than she expected and started with: "So, what's your name? Have you taken care of prima nocta guests a long time here?"

"Just call me Matt; you call any of us in blue 'dockman prima' if you can't remember the name. It's the usual form of address here - the house name identifies who you belong to, and a position name tells you what I do. Easy system, huh?" He slyly added: "Also easy to keep a low profile, Mistress Jakku."

Startled, Rey stopped dead. She rapidly panicked, and began to think of how to run back to the ship, escape.

_Keep walking, Rey. I'm right here. Just another way to use the Force. House Prima Nocta is close. Just keep being the new guest for a few moments more._ Kylo-the-dockhand-Matt squinted down at the rather astonished guest and audibly soothed her jangled nerves: "EH, Mistress, come along now. No worries, a dockhand duty is to escort guests to the house. You'll be safe from any of the other guests of Canto Bight who are having too good of a time, if you catch my meaning."

The pair continued their walk down the dock to the transports, the man politely handing the lady up into a sleek model with an anonymous grey finish and tinted windows. The transport swiftly carried them to the house of prima nocta, landing on the roof in an elegant spiraling beauty pass, meant to show off the wealth and power of the residents within its walls. Rey kept her tongue between her teeth, curiously staring at Matt-Kylo, then out the window at the delicate towers and decorative holo-lighting, spraying patterns of glowing jewel-like colors across the air above the roof.

When she turned her face back to her escort, Kylo Ren's familiar visage was sitting across from her, dressed in a set of elegant evening blanks in black; but not the usual floridly detailed and embellished materials of extreme cut and color so common in Canto Bight; yet their spare simplicity spoke of a man who only knew one store in town: the best. The Force heightened his pheromones, adding a tinge of sexiness to Kylo; Rey couldn't stop looking at him, his swordman's hands, the long legs, the gentle curve of pectorals filling the ebony jacket, the narrowness of the waist, all adding up into a gut-punch of male beauty Rey couldn't ignore.

_"_ A Clever trick, that, Master Ren."

He nodded briefly before replying: "You mean Master E'qaraba, Mistress Jakku. If anyone asks who you friends are tonight, just say you have no friends. It's the usual phrase when you want to stay nameless. The saying here is "Only birds sing in Canto". Don't say your real name out loud, ever. You never know who is listening."

They landed and the doors opened with a hiss, bringing in a waft of lightly perfumed air at a precise 76 degrees Fahrenheit. The dockhand Matt jumped out and bowing held his hand out to the young Mistress inside: "Our best welcome for the Mistress to the house of Prima Nocta!" _Smile and move, you little jade eyed scorpion. You're on camera now._

"Why thank you, Dockman Matt; I expect the house will have all I need until my friend is free to greet me, then? Quite so. I hope the hospitality is exceptional, even for Canto Bight. You may let go of my hand now, dockman." She stepped through the doors as Matt-Kylo scrambled to wave them open, bowing obsequiously.

Rey stepped through the high rollers entry to a lightly populated gallery of elites, lounging , gossiping and idly chatting over various glasses of intoxicants as they waited for the staff major domos to complete verifications and whisk them to their accomodations. She glanced again at Matt-Kylo for direction; he continued his role of the house servant, informing the major domo, fending off nosy parkers and waving off the luggage monkeys until she cleared; and before she knew it, she was walking into a private suite, the door shutting with a quiet hiss. She stood awestruck at the utter understated luxury of the room, breathing in the custom scent of the incense, eyes bathed in soothing neutral tones of fabric, wood and crystal executed with master's hand. _If this is how the First Order plays, I'd say you were missing out, Master Ren. So...what do we do now? Are we safe?_

She looked at him, and saw he was breathing shallowly, his brow beaded with sweat. "We're secure. But the minute you step outside these doors you're fair game. I...I masked you too, downstairs. I can do myself all night long, but two is an exertion. So you're not leaving until you can mask yourself." He jerked his head to the lavatory entrance; "Go. Bathe. I need to change and prepare myself for the lesson. Ask if you don't know what something is, or how to use it."

"Are...are you OK? Do you want to bathe also? Jakku shamans used to say water restores...I can wait. I'll eat or something."

Something warmer than black ice appeared in Kylo's eyes, his face softening a touch. "Perhaps I should. The table by the window has food."

Rey was nearly intoxicated by the delicate array of fruit and vegetable segments arranged artfully on plates of delicate china edged with gilt; she poured a drink from the crystal decanter, but nearly choked, as it was pure alcohol; she spat it out into damask napkin, and looked for water, but found none. She decided to sneak into the bathroom and fill her glass with water from the tap, figuring Kylo wouldn't want her to call a major-domo or servant. The bath was a bit steamy, the water was rushing full force; she twiddled with sink tap, letting the cool water trickle quietly into the prettily cut crystal container. 

Curiosity made Rey raise her eyes from the trickling water to the shower; she rationalized in her mind that just a glimpse would be acceptable and she was sure he was scarred terribly from being a knight of Ren.  The hand shook as she took in her first look at Kylo Ren that no one sees.

He was a young god in form, leanly sculpted, with more of an Apollo than a Zeus, with long, lean limbs overlaid with sleek bunches of muscle, wide pectorals tapering down to an astoundingly hammered core, slim hips offset by the gentle flare of buttocks, and all veiled in smooth, cool skin, and marred by only the distinctive scar of a lightsaber burn. He was undeniably imperfect, yet everything about him was a perfect draw for the female stealing a creep peek in the marbled bath. She silently withdrew, the water tap eased off with the finesse of a cat burglar.

She carefully swallowed her beverage and tried to let go of what she saw, but the impact of a nude Kylo had poured into Rey like a sweet poison, sharpening her senses to an unbearable height of awareness; the miniscule changes in the sculptured body left her breathless, with a curious feeling of something empty within her, that only more of whatever Kylo had in him could fill; indeed, she wanted, **needed** to be filled, to have his essence pouring over her like a sweet sun shower, drenching her, spilling over into all the secret places within her body and soul, until Rey herself overflowed with too much tenderness, sending a similar tsunami over Kylo's internal desert, washing everything away but the two of them, intertwined like Baucis and Philemon, eternal and one part of the other.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lemon-ish scene at the bar in Canto Bight was inspired by a debate with Muse on manipulation of the Force in the Star Wars series - if minds can be controlled to say yes, or divulge secrets, then why can a false front, i.e., a disguise be generated? Again, the author takes no credit for the lyrics of Bill Idol's Flesh For Fantasy, the other influence for Rey & Kylo's introduction to intimacy.

An hour later at House Prima Nocta:

"...You mean all I have to do is this? And all they see is the image I set up?...Stars, I would have thought...but...but it's so bloody damn simple! How come Master Lu-"

Kylo cut her off with an annoyed look:"Ohhh, he's done plenty of masquerades in his day - his Master, Obi Wan Kenobi, was infamous for it, so don't you think it's just a dark side trick! However, the devil is in the details - Something always gives you away, if you try to masquerade on a long term basis - your voice, the dominant hand, personal tastes in food, drink...and if you don't know about the culture of the race you are masking as, then you're in deep shit there too -choose your disguise carefully."

The knight ran a hand through his hair, highlighting the gloss of the chestnut locks and finished off his glass of water before standing up. "Now let's see how much you learned, Mistress Jakku. I'm going to the lounge on this floor and will await your arrival in ten minutes. Keep it simple, and don't try to talk to anyone too much. I can cover any simple gaffes, but not if you give away your true identity. You're not the only one who masks for a living here."

Rey searched for the sandals that completed her new evening blanks and slipped them on. She'd been railroaded into a change of outfit, Kylo loftily commenting that the desert tunic would still be smelt even when masked. Apparently peat seared fish was a 'pungent' dish.

A set of ebony evening blanks were delivered to the suite and her desert tunic was sent for cleaning; a flowing silk gauze tunic with split skirts showed a sleek leg clad in skin-tight leggings when walking or dancing, and the waist was caught with a tightly wrapped Obi to enhance the feminine form. Nothing overtly displayed flesh, the cut was unobtrusive, but the ensemble still reeked of someone with class and deep pockets of cash.

Kylo knew she looked attractive in her new evening blanks, and had one further addition to complete her ensemble, just in case. Weapons were forbidden in the party rooms, but knives were acceptable. He stood behind her, caught her eyes in the mirror, smoothly commenting: "It works on you. You'll pass, even without the mask. But there's one more thing you need."

Slowly, carefully, never breaking eye contact, he pulled her Obi a touch tighter, his hands just brushing her waist; she could feel the heat of his body through the layers of silk and wondered if he felt her heartbeat, which seemed loud as thunder in her ears; his lean hands dipped behind his back waistband and his gift was gently slid in her Obi and left to peep out, as it was meant to be seen.

It was a Khanjar, the short curved blade which everyone wore in the desert, and a favorite from the knight's personal armory. It's blade was razor sharp as a bantha's claw, and the scabbard was richly ornamented with black enamel and gold, the hilt was smoothly chased for a perfect grip with an amber bejeweling the butt, a perfectly preserved scorpion caught within the ancient resin.

Kylo neither took Rey in his arms nor stepped away from her; he simply stood still, letting her feel the warmth in his mind. _Do not rush in introducing any intimacy; too many at once will seem like intrusion, not seduction,_ his mind reminded him, an echo of his old master's patient tone surfacing. _But you never told me how intoxicating it could be, master...._ He allowed himself one more look in the mirror at the perfect match that wasn't, drifted out the door and waited until he was halfway down the hall before commenting with malicious cheer:

_Well. Now you have something to sting with, Mistress. Happy hunting._

She opened her mouth and shut it as quickly as he disappeared into the depths of the house of pleasure. _For a knight of the First Order, he knows far too much about women_ , she waspishly thought. She waited the requisite 10 minutes as the game commanded, chose an image to mask in, and opened the door.

The walk to the lounge was fairly uneventful, she drew only a glance or murmur of 'excuse me' when the entryway became a bit crowded. She was the spitting image of a Jakku nomad queen she'd seen once, with deeply bronzed skin contrasting against a crowning glory of hair sun-bleached to platinum blonde, and tall enough to meet her knight eye to eye. He politely played the part, pulling out a chair for her, waving a lounge attendant forward to arrange the pillows to her liking and ordering the appropriate beverage for Jakku. She sipped her tea regally, answered his bland queries with her own sweet belling laugh. They played unnoticed for a quarter hour, then Kylo rose, bowed and murmured his regrets, giving the excuse that the play downstairs was running supernova hot tonight and he wished to place his bets.

_You surprise me, Rey. I want to play a little harder. The rules are simple. We take any form we please, but you have to find me before I find you. You have 15 minutes._

_Oh, this hunt is **on** , Kylo. _

The crowds were much thicker in the main gallery, the gaming rooms filled with all manner of beings screeching and calling bets on the turn of a card or the fall of a die; somehow, she felt Kylo wasn't in here, and hurried towards the other rooms in the gallery, scanning for a likely hideout for the knight in disguise. She was reluctant to open her mind to hunt for his trail, fearing an intrusion that she couldn't control. She was determined not to let her mask drop, it was a good one, another Prima Nocta dockhand, scurrying at his guest's bidding. She mimicked the scuttling bow, nearly running from room to room as precious minutes slipped by.

Now desperate, she opened her mind to see if even a hint of Kylo Ren was in her range; she nearly fainted as the emotions of thousands of minds and electronica washed over her, the room swirled for a moment as she lost her bearings completely. Her mind caught the overarching structure of the Force flowing above the mental tsunami, just like Kylo had pointed out in their lesson; she grabbed and clung to it, huddled in a dim corner of a service hatch of the bar she was in; _that's it, control, girl, CONTROL, filter the rest out! ...Force, can you help me? Find *this* one for me - where is it?_ Rey-the-dockhand pushed the peculiar pattern that represented Kylo Ren in her own mind up to the megalith Force structure and struggled for long seconds fighting for mastery of the input flooding in, and then with a snap, it cleared, the signature pattern of her prey rising like a star from the lower tier of the bar room.

The stage was pulsing with lights as a holo hinted at the performer to come; She was a human, and the awe she generated at her entry was a hint of things to come. A soft and sexy syncopated beat from a bass guitar began to set the mood, a questing hungry sort of sound, excited as she was from the hunt that was happening; Rey could almost smell the sex pheromones coming off the crowd in response; and then Force nudged her with a memory: then she had him; Kylo's spicy-clean scent was there, in the crowd.

There's a change in pace., Of fantasy and taste

Do you like good music, Do you like to dance...?

Hangin' out for a body shop at night, Ain't it strange what we do to feel alright?

So when will you call..? I am experienced...oh yeah

The woman hit the stage with killer heels and sleek holo-sheened hair singing with a sultry alto, walking forward with utter sexual confidence; then dreamlike, her tanned skin clad sleek black leather peeled off and a silver-skinned sex goddess emerged in a scandalously arousing dress, if a few scraps of suns-eye gems on black mesh could be called that; she tossed her head and the hair melted into a black mane glossy as Kylo's, as the lusciously long legs  flexed and stomped, now clad in gemmed black boots as the singer got up close and personal with the crowd, staring down the ogling stares with the white hot aggression of a huntress, her blue eyes sparking as she screamed the chorus:

SING IT: FLESH! Flesh for fantasy! We want! Flesh! Flesh for fantasy

The crowd was a swaying primal mass now, and Rey now looked for her target, someone who wasn't moving, but she couldn't find one; so she switched to mind-hunting again and caught a glimpse of Kylo's signature trail to the right of the stage; she morphed her mask to a bar rat, and slipped through the crowd looking wildly for a clue, any clue to which one was Kylo. She nearly broke into tears as she failed; then the crowd was sprayed with a soporific, every intake of breath spiralled her to a dizzying high and the breakthrough occurred: _Quit trying so hard, watch and wait for it  -it's not what changes, but what stays the same. Ah...there. The man with the eye protectors -they don't reflect light. It's him._

The goddess singing her heart out on stage shattered into a thousand shards of silver into a shirtless male with bondage chains jingling on his sweating torso, now dancing, thrusting his pelvis and moving fluidly as snake as he belted out the last verse:

It's after midnight, are you feeling alright...Oh yeah

Turn out the light, babe, are you someone else tonight?

Neighbor to neighbor, door to door, don't ask questions

There's time for it all...oh yeah

Rey was behind Kylo-in-mask now; she wanted to do something shocking to announce the game was up, but a hand reached out to her, and she was whirled into a rock hard wall of muscle that continued the beat washing through the bar, hands ungently clenching her hips to keep them pinned groin to groin in the latest dance trend as the music intensified. Kylo's mental voice purred. _Well played._

_What the hell do you call this dance!? Its...it's...!_

_The Chaste._ _You're lucky she decided not to start with Saints and Sinners tonight. We'd have to find a third partner._ Kylo let a bubble of humor rise, showing her his memory of Hux and his mistress dancing Saints and Sinners with a humanoid who clearly enjoyed both sexes. _Iio's talent is mind-blowing -she is able to create scenarios in our minds as well as in front of us, because she knows the Force. She got herself augmented two years ago for music and now has a devoted following._

The performance ended, and a rhythm cycle came on over the sound system; their bodies stopped moving and Kylo steered Rey to the bar, now 3 deep, waiting for refreshments from the bartenders, hustling in the smoky, sweaty room. Rey was filled with restless energy, frustration brewing, feeling hungry for something that she couldn't quite put a name to; her lips were parted and her eyes shone sharply bright in the dim room. Kylo saw it as the chance of a lifetime and went for broke asking:

_Did you enjoy hunting, Mistress? Does it terrify you? Or do you feel alive?_

_You play hard, Master...Scorpion._

_Care to play some more?_

Rey found herself nodding, then with a wolfish smile, she darted off into the crowd; this started a wild evening of hide and seek, each morphing into different masks, as they ran from room to room in the great pleasure palace of Prima Nocta. They lost and found themselves dozens of times, growing more bold and bizarre with their choices each time, until the touch of a hand or hip brush became less of an intrusion into personal space and more of a welcome contact.

Rey now intoxicated Kylo beyond reason; she was completely and utterly magnetic, everything begged to be explored, caressed with every molecule of flesh he possessed, then reflected back into her mind, with the most perfect and flattering reflections his psyche could muster. He was overjoyed that she was strong as he could hope for, and he enjoyed being able to just be himself, and not have to rein in his attitude or shield his feelings; he was as close to being completely unfettered as he'd ever been in his life.

Iio's set came up again in the main bar, and now more than a little high, Rey practically yelped in delight and spun in circles about Kylo; then she started to change, her skin color flowing, changing from her current mask of an amber skinned Takodanan to the pale skin of the vamping songstress on stage; Kylo blanched and leapt to her, pushing his body into hers and backing into a darkened corner of the dance floor, so no one would see she was a masking talent like iio.

_Rey! Focus. If they find out you're like iio, you'l be sucked into this crowd -too many minds- Stop STOP STOP!_

_Ahhhh...I know wha' *I'm* doin'. Just GO wit' it, Kylo! We can be anything we want...It's our playground, let's play wit'all  the toys!  
_

The floor was crowded now, a frottage of flying locks of hair and elbows that made Rey nestle in closer to Kylo's lean body; the music exploded into a very popular rhythm, and cheers went up as couples in the front started doing saints and sinners. Impatiently, Rey's arm circled her partner's slim waist, bringing him to her with a solid thump, then clamped her hands on his forearms in the florid clasp of saints and sinners, and began to imitate the moves, as she rapidly began to change masks one after the other, stunning Kylo with every beautiful female visage they'd seen tonight; it was a stunning performance, a private sinners and saints that taunted him with the absence of the face and form he so ardently pursued tonight.

At that point the disciplined first knight of Ren was lost to his other self, which had been tearing down the cage he had been put it in for the past decade. In the dark corner, the pair tore off their masks and simply moved as one, hips rocking side to side. The flex of the muscles in her leg between his thighs was producing an unbelievable excitement; The soft rasp of the fabric and the warmth of her thigh began to suffuse Kylo with a sharp white heat he couldn't ignore; every time he slid down a little off the pitch of her leg, she would slide it in a little further, pull him close again. Rey kept her gaze on the object of her desire, the iris of her eyes darkening; something in it was looking right into Kylo's soul. as he fell into those tawny green flecked depths, he saw a deep exhilaration in them to match his own; the maddening rhythm of their locked hips was unbearably sexual; he felt her hand behind his head tangling in hair, then grabbing a handful and pulling his face inches from her face. All other sensations in the room fell away, he was alone with her, the sheer pleasure verging on agonizing, then soaring to a fine point until his body gently released itself, drifting back down in a welter of sweat, trembling muscles and thudding heart. The rest of the world slowly hazed itself back in, iio's music still assaulting their ears, the bass changing beat as the DJ coaxed the floor into dancing to another hit, people changing movements, places; some of them cheering wildly, or lip locked in frenzied embraces in search of what _I think just happened with Rey, here???_

Then the night came to a skidding stop as Rey's head fell back and she passed out with a blissful smile in Kylo's arms.


	8. Chapter Eight

Bright light assaulted Rey's face and crept in between her eyelids, adding a burning feeling to the scratchy dry throat and pounding head of the young Jedi. The incandescent light on her face shifted and grew stronger, which made her growl; she threw a hand over her face and blearily opened her right eye. She had intended to draw her tunic drape over her eyes and go back to sleep, but the view made her screech in surprise.

She was in orbit above Ahch-To, and the sun was getting ready to rise on a new day. She had about an hour before sunrise on the Jedi island; she hurried through the re-entry sequence, worriedly checking over the readings of her ship. She loved the old freighter, it was a classic, no fancy paint job but fast as all get out. She landed with a quarter hour to spare and sighed in relief before looking about. She was still in the evening blanks from Canto Bight, and did not see any bruises or black eyes that indicated she'd been in a bar fight or been taken advantage of, as one of her rebellion mates would have put it. Her desert attire was in a neatly folded stack in the mate's chair next to her; she stripped, hesitating in dismay as Kylo Ren's snide voice sniffing the word "pungent" came to mind. However, the worn linen held nothing but a subtle scent of clean this time. Somehow, she wished for the scent of Kylo to come back; strangely, she _knew_ his scent, but somehow couldn't recall it. 

She let a soft smile touch her lips as she dressed, recalling the adventurous lesson last night, then it faded as something in her gave birth with a mewling cry: _When was the last time you smelled clean? Slept in a place that wasn't a military garrison or worse? Felt like you were a woman?_ _He could treat you nice..._

Rey snorted, shaking her head, now refocusing with the damp pre-dawn air ; _Nice Is not a verb one should use to describe Kylo Ren, _she sternly lectured her heart; it slyly, saucily replied: _Maybe not; but admit it, we're infatuated. Tempted, even._ She kicked the hatch door shut in reply and broke into a run to clear her head and beat her heart into submission. She had almost won when the Force gently prodded her to return to the ship; she gave the excuse she didn't want anyone to find the khanjar, it was too fine for a 'scav like her; Chewie, Finn and Poe would all be nosy-curious. She decided to stow it in a personal locker, out of sight until she could return it to the man.

She almost missed the blinking com light, glowing green in the dim cockpit; she knew it was him, and almost ignored it, but didn't. Sighing, she flicked the switch for playback:

"Time stamp 3:12 AM" The com stated in Han Solo's voice, flat and empty as a machine could make it. The sinister marvel of his son's tenor filled the cockpit." I piloted the Falcon back and set it in standard orbit. Master Luke will feel the disturbance in the Force when I am near. In case you wondered what happened last night, you did too much at once. It's a problem either way: if you try to change too much too quickly, you get burned out. If that crowd knew you had any masking talent, they'd have all wanted you to be their fantasy, and you'd have been torn to pieces and left with nothing of...you." A moment of silence was followed by: "I'll be at Canto Bight another evening. Join me."

_Shards and splinters, a...date, Master Ren?_ No wait...It was a lesson. She shuddered at the thought of what he must have gone through to present such a subtle torture like that lesson last night. Or was it? _It was a test, you fool. He was gauging your strength...tolerance...wit. And you passed. You had to have passed. Anyone else would have left me there, had I failed. Or helped themselves to me, my ship. Who is this man, exactly? Whatever he is, I'm dying for more._

3 hours before sunset she couldn't take any more and made her excuses to Master Luke, who wryly smiled as he watched the vapor trail rise to the sky, recalling his own impatient youth. He suspected she was pursuing a crush, but Ben Solo was not among the imagined suitors.

This time, Canto Bight was a minefield; Rey was wary of everyone. She masked very carefully, striding through dock 13 as if she owned it, letting the dockhands scuttle for the door of the transport. There was no familiar Matt the dockhand, but then she didn't expect one tonight. He expected her to find him with no directions or hints. The elite reception did not have a reservation with anything remotely like Master Ren's pet names for her, so she shrugged after trying 3 different sobriquets and drifted downstairs to the main gallery, idly wandering and occasionally letting her inner radar flick on and off, like a nervous hand flicking a blade open and closed. She paused by iio's venue, but she wasn't on stage; so she drifted in the crowds until she realized she could find him -if- she could use the Force again like she did last night.

15 minutes later she was sitting on the floor of a service hall, stunned. Nothing. No trace of Kylo's pattern was anywhere in Canto Bight. _How can this be? Did something happen to him? Did he lie? No, don't go there...he's got something at stake here. No reason to lie. Where are you, Kylo Ren? ...He can mask a face, but how in the name of stars came anyone mask their psychic pattern? You;d have to be so strong...another Anakin Skywalker..._ Rey blanched as it hit her; _Stars, maybe he IS another Anakin? Is that why Master Luke is afraid of him? Why his parents never got too close with him? The dark side must have seen how great his talent is._

She thought of what it must have been like, carrying the weight of his talent, feared, and alone. _Seems to me he's more a creature to be pitied than feared. He might have been a different person had he experienced the light side of the Force...affection...love..._ Rey gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth, as an insane giggle escaped.... _And that's exactly what he intends to do!_

She shook herself off and thought about what she should do; She wanted to go to Kylo, talk, tell him about everything she'd learned and how she'd misunderstood his intentions. But how she, when he wasn't in Canto Bight? What could she do with what little she had to use? She brightened as an idea came to mind. She hurried back to the elite lounge, ensconced herself in a private booth, and let the attendant draw the curtains as she settled back into the luxurious silk cushions.

She slowly opened her mind, like a flower unfolding, a petal at a time, and let herself float on the currents of the Force, keeping herself far from the swirl of the thousands of minds all playing, drinking, and cutting loose on this night; she imagined her own pattern pulsing with light, rising and floating with her; then she gathered her courage and sent her query: _Help me, Force?_ It ignored her at first, then she sent it again, but as a command, not a query: _You will help me, Force. Find him. Show him this._ The current swirled around Rey's pattern image, then suddenly it shot down the invisible stream of electrons and protons into the nothingness, leaving Rey to haze back in to her current reality.

It seemed like an eternity before the silk parted.

Rey didn't remember the face of the girl who brought her the passcode, the pretty card resting on a twiddly holo-glass tray, or the long walk down the hallway to the lift; dreamlike, she watched the ground fall beneath her feet as the Perspex bubble made its journey to the penthouse of Prima Nocta, the moons seeming to detach themselves from their sequined night sky and float with her, escorting her to the adventure of her life tonight.

It seemed as if everything she had gone through at this point was just preparation for the work that was about to begin tonight; she shivered and looked at the moons, a silent prayer in her mind, a simple thing from childhood. Her mind supplied the sweet sounds of hammered zithra and the patter of drums to a woman's rich voice, melodiously chanting:

The sand is my bed and on it I lay

I have the stars up above to guide me on my way

I pray to the desert that my lips do not run dry

Living water pass me not by

I will sing to the desert

And I shall bring love like the sea

I will sing to the desert

And I shall make love like the sea...

_How do I love a monster? ..He's a man.._ her heart reminded. _It's the lack of love which has made him grow monstrous. That's all._

_Then tonight, I am the teacher._

The lift stopped with a gentle bump, bringing her out of her reverie; with new-found confidence Rey tilted her head back, walked to the penthouse door and keyed the entry code.

She gasped; she thought she'd seen luxury last night, but the main salon of the penthouse was on a different scale entirely. No florid gilt and gem encrusted décor in the lurid shades of the gaming galleries, but sheer lightness and space, the subtle sound of moving water provided by a rippling pool, infinitely falling into space as you stared at a horizon unobstructed by anything, the entire structure a gentle dome of clear material. You could watch the sun set or rise and never stir an inch from your bed. The furnishings were all shades of white, designed to absorb whatever tints the natural world displayed; so it was very restful and soothing, especially now, at the end of sunset, the vivid ruddy golds gone and the blues of twilight veiled the rooms in exquisite shades of indigo. It shaded the knight of Ren's hair, lending rich ultramarine highlights to his dark locks.

Kylo was so still, Rey had almost missed him, sitting comfortably in the first pose of meditation on a low platform at the edge of the pool. He looked younger than his 27 years, almost coltish, without the traditional garb of the knights of Ren, his long limbs visible, cool flesh emerging from the simple monk's tunic. Fitful glimpses of the lean torso appeared with each gentle exhalation of his meditative breath, a subtle signal of sensual openness that wasn't lost on his teacher, whose mouth was suddenly running with juices, as she avidly drank in her student.

_Don't start with seeing, start with believing -_ her heart gently reminded her; The Force reacted to the thought Rey had formed; it knew it was time for it to act; it encapsulated them, an impenetrable barrier to any and all external forces, making them invisible to any Force sensitives. It also sweetly caressed Rey's psyche, gently encouraging her to make contact; it heightened Kylo's aura with sweet shades of unnamed colors and with a flourish, opened a full channel for the Force-bond, giving them unlimited access to each other.

It was a rush of pure exhilaration for the pair of Force sensitives, strong as the first tsunami of dopamine an addict receives and begs for; _more_ was the only word in their vocabulary; the lissome girl- turned-desert-panther reacted before the man, diving into the pretty pool, warm as milk, and cut the liquid with smooth strokes, emerging onto the platform, the pure water running off her in crystal rivulets, unconcerned, she shrugged out of the wet silk, accepting the physical contact with the man, as he silently slipped off his tunic, wrapping it about her and drawing her down to the soft padding of the platform.

The full contact force-bond gave them the singular sensation of the other's receptors; whatever they touched, they felt the effect of the touch; Kylo was amused at Rey's reaction, and astonished at his own; it was like he had been hungry all his life, craving this invisible food, yet everything he had been fed never satisfied or sustained him; and now, he finally had a taste. His soul was ravenous, but he restrained with a well-practised hand and politely waited for Rey to make the first move as the teacher.

Rey was battling her own voracity, her feelings were more unrestrained, as she didn't have the years of mental discipline that Kylo had; yet she did push aside the thirst, telling herself Kylo was like a child, with no experience, she had to start slow, at the simplest level.

_Kylo -What is love? Can you define it?_

_I have a million definitions, but they're all from other beings, Rey. Even my mother....father...I can't remember any more. Ren training burnt it all away._

_Kylo... it's ...OK. Love is what we make it mean. If you're NOT Force-sensitive, all you have to express it is words. Actions. And touch. So..let's start there. Touch. We remember the touch of our mother, even in the womb, even if we forget how to speak, or do._

_Touch? I've been touching you._

_No. I mean touch with the feeling, the intent of love. If you can't feel love, use other feelings: gratitude, beauty, awe, peace, appreciationâ€¦_

She extended her hand, palm open and let it stay there, halfway to Kylo. Slowly, cautiously, his own hand extended inching closer to Reyâ€™s flesh, his brow slowly unknotting from its defensive expression.

As their fingertips passed the barrier of aura and made contact, a soft non-sound passed through lips in a gentle exhale and irises dilated as the invisible something connected, caught and locked into place. The next eon-second was spent slowly letting the contact extend a hundred thousand cilia eagerly questing for more connection, more micro frissons of pleasure, until a delicate shiver of electric feeling ran through the corporeal body, gently flooding erogenous zones  with sensations and flushing cheeks until eyes shone in more vivid contrast. As each beheld the other in their mind's eye, it was like they were seeing the other for the first time, no armor, no invisible shields, no veil of mental scars to cover their complete and utter nakedness.

Closer and closer they became after the heroin rush of the first touch; the tingle of a knee brushing a leanly muscled thigh, the heat of his torso seducing her to lean in and breathe in the scent of the ebony silk curtain hanging over his face, a smooth browned shoulder begged to be grasped; his hand slid down her arm, its slowness belying the flaming hunger growing inside him. He breathed the word: "Ready?" as he looked over at Rey, who was clearly projecting a questing anticipation, hungry in her own way. She slowly nodded, and he slipped into her mental doorway, smooth as silk, slowly letting his presence be known on the edge of her thoughts; he sent a tendril of question, courteous, almost pleading in its softness.

It shook Rey to feel that first mental touch that wasn't a forcible intrusion; _if he could do this, what else was he capable of?_   Kylo caught the thread of rising fear washing over her and backed away to the very edge of her mind and spoke, dropping words in her ear like warm black honey-fire: _I am your student now...I can be anything you want...even...your slave. I give myself completely into your hands...heart._

Her breath caught and pupils expanded with a bloom of passion; the confidence came flooding back in her interior landscape, and Kylo let himself be carried along the inward flow without resistance until she realized he was there, IN her.

Kylo took the other hand resting on his thigh and placed it on her waist before he communicated: _Itâ€™s time; The Force will take us there now._

_Where is...there?_

_It's heart, Rey. It's heart. There, I can absorb your lesson. The Force will make it permanent._

An afterthought occurred: _Hold on to me._


	9. Chapter Nine

A feeling of being wrapped in wings overcame Rey, Kylo's presence enfolding her as they approached the invisible currents of the Force, a pale seraph now pinned to a somber hued malakim. She curiously tilted her head up and she felt the great stream swirl and eddy around them as its darkness started to fill with delicate stars, then heard Kylo's sharp intake of breath as his mind shifted gear. The stars tilted and turned into streaks of light as they shot into the depths of the great amazon into the heart of the Force.

Her interior world collapsed like a black hole and they began to fall into a deep abyss, colored by unknown things that were living yet lightless; she screamed and struggled, but was held tight against him, unable to escape her rising panic; she knew she was way beyond the borders of her mind, but his insistent contact kept her from dissolving into a mass of molecules; she buried her head in his shoulder as they plummeted like shooting stars into the darkness of a cyberworld beyond the dark river of the force, until she felt them level off and dissipate.

Rey raised her head with effort against an invisible tide of force current in the nothingness illuminated by sourceless radiance; she gazed in fascination at the dark hair waving like seaweed around Kylo's head in the heavy water, then idly watched her hand trail in the invisible current, rippling trails behind them as they were pushed forward by some unseen force. His hand placed itself beside hers to trail surfer-like as riding in a perfect curl; his gaze caught hers and held it in an unfathomable expression. 

She wondered in whose mind they were in for a second, then dreamlike, she shrugged it off; nothing had hurt her, he had kept her safe, wherever they had journeyed. The invisible current had slowed to oozing honey against her skin; the slow flow was deliciously sensual, and she knew sensual was the doorway to where Kylo had to go on his journey to light tonight. He had to learn to let himself feel, and feel with full engagement of all his senses, heart, mind, and soul.

She felt words would do nothing except get him to over-analyze what was happening, so she stayed silent, continuing to hold his eyes with her gaze, then deliberately let it roam with appreciation over his face, resting on the lean cheekbones, the generous mouth made for lush kisses, the thick ruff of eyelashes framing the warmest black she'd ever seen. _That's it, make him want to be touched, let your eyes lead to where you'll go next, make him desire the next contact, until he responds...yes, Kylo, you are beautiful, everything you are deserves to be adored and worshipped by me...me alone...my hands...lips...mind...heart. _

From that moment on, every movement she made, the long caresses of her limbs, a leg coiling around his waist, the subtle arching of her back sent a sensual explosion of ripples through the Force bond. Her hands sculpted & molded Kylo as she slowly clung to his lean nakedness, thrashing against his skin, deliberately weaving a spell of heavenly excitement that left him dazed and outright panting with a deep primal desire for more.

She kept on going deeper and deeper into him, letting the feelings flow until she touched that one place that no one touched before, and he fled in fear, shoving her away, tumbling through the heart of the Force as incomprehensible panic rose.  The Force reacted, contracting, forming an invisible net around them; Kylo began to ball up, his breath sobbing with tenseness as he realized there was no escape.

Rey's voice took a softly coaxing tone: "Trust me. Everything you feel, I'm feeling too. Two way street here, lover. Want to try it on me?" she knelt, clear eyed, steady and held the doorway of her mind open without a tremble or a flinch. 

_Oh Stars, you brave creature.!..I could worship you just for offering to me..._ Kylo's voice was the youngest he'd ever sounded when he finally spoke: "I don't know how, Rey. I can make the entire damned guard of the knights bow to my will, I did it once just because I could...but I don't know what it feels like to hold a hand to comfort a dying man..I've gone through half the base, who all wanted to be seduced by the first knight of Ren, but I never knew what it felt like to wake up next to someone and be happy...I killed a master, so I could change the direction of my life, but to do it I let something of me die...How can a man so black ever show a shred of love? I can't tolerate this dark anymore, I'm choking..." His voice shook as he remembered the darkness flooding him so long ago, and swallowing the sudden knot in his throat he finished his miserable confession with: "I actually can't believe I'm saying this, but I _want_ the power, I _want_ to be the one to balance the Force...and I..I...want to be _Loved_ for it, not feared." He turned on her, his eyes hungry, touching her everywhere, a silent question in them. "Is it possible? Or am I just a pawn once more?"

Rey couldn't answer, as a silent upwelling of tenderness, pity, admiration, filled her, deepening to the pure gong-note of love; she could barely get out the words "All things are possible with love.." Then ever so softly she added "my...one"

The tremble of the young man's mouth gave away the direct hit he'd just received to the locked armor of his own heart, the passion igniting into a white-hot explosion, cracking the shield he'd put up so long ago against Snoke.

Kylo's desire for Rey burned hot as his light saber, and the warmth suffused her during the bond. The power absentmindedly found erogenous zones to apply it: a delicate earlobe, the soft skin where the neck meets the shoulder, the lower curve of the breast. Rey's absolute delight was looped back to Kylo, giving him the absolute proof of love he craved; his eyes drank in the miniscule changes in her breath, eyes, and flushing skin as the invisible tether sparked with zinging pleasure in the places his desire had touched in Rey.

His own quickening rolled over Rey and sent them both into a state; they didn't know what was happening, but all they could think was getting more. It was now an outright addiction that escalated to something insane, something provocative.

The Force-mind threw in its own action to drive them both over the edge and begin the exchange of light and dark; the invisible current now swirled between them and forcefully held them apart, crystallizing into a barrier where they could see each other, feel each other through the bond, but not physically touch.

Puzzled hands beat senselessly on the ice-like barrier as their minds incinerated with desire and anger at being held apart. Neither had expected this and Kylo's lust took on a murderous edge; Rey simply became a force of nature, her own bloodlust taking on the same killing edge to get to what she most wanted.

It was she who cleanly jumped to Kylo along the force bond, crashing into his mind like a tigress on the attack; he welcomed her with a mental growl of his own and gathering his courage, leapt off the precipice into the well of the force bond, following the fiery stream of electrons to the light of his beautiful Rey.

They met and clung, swirling into a tornado, flailing until the invisible wall splintered into a million shards, driving into their flesh, bringing light into dark, and dark into light.

The Force-mind knew it was the perfect moment, and released the pair from its influence, swirling with a nonverbal joy at a long-overdue joining taking place and left the pair to finish the work they themselves had asked for. For Kylo, it was the most erotic and transcendent experience of his life: the arms that wrapped around him and held him against flesh were not a prison, but release, freedom....he was no longer defined by his saber, his history, his mistakes; he was just breath, skin, pleasure...he was given so much pleasure of the senses that he grew faint, then something bloomed inside; like strength but deeper - a deep upwelling of unexplainable emotion - he opened his eyes & saw.a beautiful creature with eyes on fire, no scorn or disgust reflected there, only love...overwhelmed with this strange & extraordinary feeling, he tried to match every kiss, every caress with the all the intensity he had; his lover returned it exponentially, escalating, until the two of them were grappling in a deathlock, biting, hair pulling, clawing, screaming, tears  welling, until they both realized they had gone beyond, way beyond anyplace they'd known...and unafraid, they jumped off the teetering precipice together into the sheer bliss of completion, orgasm after orgasm rippling through them as they fell carried along the thundering waterfall of the Force currents back to the tiny flet in a rippling pool somewhere, someplace, sometime in their distant past.


	10. Chapter 10

For long moments the couple lay there, the knowledge of their innocence lost in their eyes; they both still felt the deeper throb of power between them, both breasts heaving with shallow gasps, starred and straining for contact. He raised his hand near to her face as if to touch it, but he simply stayed silent, letting his eyes admire her and his mind plead without a word. Her hand crept forward of its own volition; he slowly brought it to his lips, and slowly turned on his side towards her as he continued to caress her with his mouth. Eyelids lowered over the black lava-lakes, the thick ruff of lashes sweeping down to shyly hide the overflowing passion rising within his soul. Even if the first knight of the order of Ren was never labelled sensitive, those eyelids were, and they utterly charmed Rey, as Kylo's mental wave of gratitude crashed over her _What for?_   She wondered, and his silent answer was for all of it, her unwavering belief that he could be part of light, her stubbornness, her bravery in the journey into the Force, and that he had a match, he wasn't...alone...in this terrifying new universe.

Rey felt herself melt, tenderness overflowing and spilling into secret places of her. She suddenly clutched Kylo tight, hands digging through the mass of dark hair, his face buried in her shoulder as he clumsily wrapped his own arms around her, the long-hidden fantasy come true. Then he picked her up like she didn't weigh anything at all, and took the quietly meandering path through the pretend-natural garden, carefully cradling Rey to his bare chest.

She was content to lay there at first, she was exhausted, and longed for a Jakku sweat-lodge to clean all the mental and physical sludge away. It felt safe, being carried; it had been so long since anyone could be trusted enough to do a thing like that. A gentle brush of leaves against her face made her open her eyes and with a moan, she began to struggle against the leanly powerful pectorals and steely torso; they were in a sleeping alcove, the bed an obvious hint of what was coming next. She kicked and strained, now frightened, and broke free for a moment, feet hitting the satiny stone floor, stumbling over a lush fur rug as she made to escape the intimate encounter with Kylo.

Large hands ungently grabbed her, then swung her to a wall and up, until she was face to face with her partner. "Look at me" was his authoritative command. She turned her face away and kicked rather ungently; he shook her, then grabbed her jaw and pulled to face his visage. The power of the man was overwhelming; he spoke again, every word a punctuation unto itself. "Look.At.Me." This time she was helpless against his penetrating gaze and could not defend herself against the entry into her mind. He easily found what he was looking for, then something changed in the steely gaze. "You fool. What do you think you've started? You came to me. In there. You.Came.To.Me." The hand released its grip from her jaw as he leaned in to deliver a kiss with a brutally direct sensuality that left her speechless, then wickedly whispered: "How could I fail to come to you, out here?"

It was Rey's moment of transcendence as she experienced the ultimate erotica of being worshipped in body with a leisurely thoroughness that made her breath catch and bring a warm rush of moisture between her legs, even weeks later after the event. Growing up as a female in a world where virginity was currency, Rey had avoided contact with men, seeing the nature of them at their worst. She'd never had thought that so many spots on her body could be erotic; Kylo found delight in teaching her that her ankle was worthy of being nipped, a tender spot behind the knee could make her tremble, and her mouth absolutely craved the way her lover's tongue swirled against hers and always exited with a slow glide across the roof of her mouth.

Conversation was very broken for a long time, but eventually full sentences did form in the interludes of coupling, moving from bath to lounge to pool, the warm jetting water of the waterfall an extra element of pleasure with its extravagant use of the element.

"Half the base, you said? Tell me, did you ever seduce Hux? I wonder why he was so possessive."

"Did you ever get so desperate that you used BB8 for relief? He seems so...possessive for a bot."

Kylo caught her eye and peered with a mock-brooding intensity for a moment, making Rey erupt in a ripple of laughter. It seemed like she'd known Kylo forever, and he was incredibly light for having been through a major change. "I had no idea he had the program coded in, Master..Kylo." Rey stumbled at the name, and unexpectedly direct, she asked: "What do you want to be called now? You're no longer a knight of Ren; you don't have to keep the name. What about your birth name?"

He sighed before replying: "Ben Solo is long dead; and now, so is Kylo Ren; I've no idea yet, it has to fit..." His voice trailed off; "The Force, wants...needs me to do something; I'm no longer one side or the other, but something new. Rey, I'm not the same. My connection is different now. Isn't yours?"

Kylo connected with an ease that made Rey lower her eyes and throb with new found desires, but her lover would have none of that in this meeting of minds. He got a glimpse of something before she hastily slammed her mental window shut, then withdrew with a smooth caress. He reasoned there was enough time to get her back to Ahch-To, and prepare her for what lay ahead. She had no idea of what they could be capable of, but in time, she'd accept her role, as the Force didn't gift indiscriminately. She was pure raw talent at times, he recalled the fearless leap into the Force-bond, their saber-fight on Starkiller, the first encounter. _I'm damned lucky she doesn't know the female is the dominant of the human species when it comes to Force manipulation skills. I have to tell her; give her free choice, or else it'll be another First Order all over again. It has to stop. Even if I have to be without her, I can't stand the thought of such a woman being caged like I was._

In between hunting down articles of clothing and donning them, he got out the introduction of the subject, troublesome as it was: "Rey, do you have any idea of how powerful you are? You did some things on the first thought that took me practice to master. Did Master Luke ever mention anything like testing, midi-chlorians?

"Who needs to master it? Sometimes you just have to do it. Maybe you think too much, Kylo.  And I'm not looking for complete control over my universe here, like you."

"You have a point there; but did you ever think that someone may want to control you?"

"I'd like to see them try." She drawled, with a rather lazy confidence in her eyes.

Sighing, the former Knight drew her down to one of the padded benches surrounding the pool and unexpectedly took her hands, idly examining them as he spoke the bombshell of truth: "Did you know the DNA of Force sensitivity has been through gene sequencing? They found out that females are more likely to be coded as double dominants and males carry the double recessives." He eyed her with a serious expression, eyes boring into hers to make the other miserable truth he'd been hiding hit home:

"Yes, Rey. You may end up carrying the weight of universe on your own back one day. I can protect you from that as long as I am alive, but I need you understand what this whole fight for balance of the Force is about. People make the mistake of thinking the Force is out of balance, because there is too much light or dark. Not true. The Force has exactly the amount of light and dark it needs. _The Force is never out of balance._ It's how we use it. Too much one way or the other, and we choke the free flow of the Force, dam it. It wants, no, needs someone to keep the balance of our usage from going overboard, but the internal compass of that someone can't be all light or all dark. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Example: Me and you."

"So, we're equals, then?"

"We're not equals here. We're opposites. You're going to be a lot stronger than I will be in some of the ways we use the Force. I'm going to be stronger than you on others. That ties back to the double recessive genes I was born with. I'm farther along in understanding what the Force wants and I have plans on how to accomplish that, but don't think you don't have a choice here, or a voice in what to do. I need you to learn balance. Self control. Defence. Or the Force could swing out of balance. You're capable of just as much tyranny as me, just in a different scope - that of light."

Rey's expression was shell shocked, a spark of angry disbelief in her eyes, underlaid with a sick feeling that she knew he was right. Stung, defensive, she lashed out:

"So you seduced me for a bit of goodness? You kriffing bastard, why would I want to be your white queen to your black king? Maybe I should ask the Force to make me its weightmaster, at least it would be a tyranny of light and goodness. You are so...so.. **black**."  Her temper popped like a champagne cork, a hand yanking out of the gentle grasp of the man and rising to deliver a ringing slap to his face.

Kylo was stock still, the sensitive eyelids crashing down to hide the shellshock in his own eyes; Rey was stunned to see a glassy line of a tear run down his cheek, following the scar she gave him so long ago.

_You stated the force behind your refusal with true eloquence, Mistress._

Then the room was empty, except for a woman trembling, eyes shut.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note full credit is given to the writers of the lyrics from Evanescence's 'Lost in Paradise', a lovely piece that showcases Miss Amy's vocal power. It seems to fit the angst of the relationship between Kylo & Rey.  
> The theory of time slowing could produce ripples in current day time is amateur and has no scientific basis, but what the hey. it's fantasy.

Something cracked in Rey' mind as soon as she felt the absence of his presence. It filled the room, the hallways of Prima Nocta, the streets of Canto Bight and the docking station, bringing all movement to a halt. Her primal inner voice rose to a scream, just like the child on Jakku watching her family' ship jet into the sky while unfriendly hands held her back. No one heard it, not even the scarred young man in monk' robes, frozen in mid-step towards a First Order tri-glide ship.

 _Dontyouleavemedontyoudareleavemedontyoudoitdontyoudoit_ was the only sound as a small dainty figure ran through a strange museum of figures frozen in time; frantically scurrying like a rat in a maze, pausing only to peer at the tall ones in black.

As Rey-the-rat ran, the strangeness of the situation started to bleed through her senses; her boil-over of panic cooled and she became truly frightened; it was so still, no sound, no movement, and she couldn' find Kylo. _How the hell did *I* do this? Me, the 'scav of Jakku,_ _stopped time? Can I even get back? Does the Force even exist here?_

Disconsolate, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, blankly choked back a sob, and sat abruptly. _I should have just kept my mouth shut; now I'd better_ _think before I say another thing. How could I do such a thing as this? There was never any scroll or lessons on swaying the way time runs on Ahch-To. I don't understand ; it's so...dark._

She scowled at her memory of snottily sniping at Kylo in the penthouse, and then became ashamed as she realized exactly what he meant by being changed. He had a part of her in him now; and she was the same. _No wonder I said those things; I didn't  want t_ _o face up to the truth. Stars, he wanted make sure I'd  be_ _protected! Oh, how can I get back to him? Get back to the normal speed of time? I' m lost in a paradise of nothing, aren't_ _I?_ She bitterly laughed at herself, then sobbed again, as the bitter acid of being alone and lost corroded her courage. Then something poked her with an invisible finger. _Wait. I got lost before. I asked the Force for help. Maybe if I asked it? No. Wait. You tell it what you want._

It took Rey an eon or so to get back to the penthouse. She had given up on going to the docking station, there was no way to get there without a working transport. She just knew Kylo would be there, it would be like him to walk away, run, so no one could see him break. Rey hated herself now, she had ceased blaming Kylo, it wasn't his evil cruel dark side, it wasn't the unemotional, unfiltered way of speaking, nor was it his insufferably arrogant maleness or highhanded patronizing manner of dictating to her. He was trying out being _considerate;_ and she'd judged him too quickly. And now, she was in a mess, and alone, maybe forever.

Somewhere along the way through the endless corridors and stairways she started to speak, just fragments of what was in her mind, with a vague unspoken faith that the part of her in him could hear her speak: soft vocalizations mixed with pleas and sharp cries, a prayer from a despairing, frightened heart to hope against hope that there was something to bring them back together, to find what was lost so foolishly, undo the damage, to come home, HOME to the only being that wanted her since her parents deserted her so long ago.

Her voice was hoarse and her eyes were red when she finally limped up to the open penthouse doors; she collapsed in a heap and regaining her breath, she dove into the sluggish current of the Force, sending her desire to find the psychic pattern she imaged; it began to echo the pattern like a sonar, voices that weren't quite voices singing the command _find-find-find_ from point to point in the vast inner ocean, then disappeared. For long moments Rey waited, her heartbeat accelerating when the faint return of the ping began to follow the trail back to the sender. Another command, this time strong as she could: _Take me to source._ Then she jumped into the pattern as it shot off into the lightless inferno, buffeted by invisible riptides and rushing whitewater, back to sanity and light of the current time and arms that would carry her and hold her fast for eternity.

Back at the docking station, Kylo's determined stride made his boots ring against the plasteel of the decking; the safety inspectors waved him back from the tri-glide, holding up a red flashing no-go sign. A dockhand scurried to his side and made proper excuses: "Sir, just a moment or two more, please bear with us; the gamma radiation has been surging oddly high and there's been an anomaly of 14 minutes, 3.14 seconds breaching the hyperspace jump point. Just have a seat at the portmaster's, or I'll send you back to Canto Bight and call you once we've been cleared."

"I need to get off this den of iniquity NOW, dockhand Prima. Tell portmaster I'll sign the waivers. The Scorpion can outrun any ship here. A 14 minute shift is no contest."

"Sir, The Scorpion's reputation for speed is our scandal and delight here. But this is for your safety. Portmaster says no one gets out until the shockwave passes the planet; it's not like the others; the source is too close to present day."

"What are the source coordinates?" Kylo was mildy intrigued, a vague sense of uneasiness started a tiny drum beat of anxiety in the back of his mind.

"Latitude 182 degrees, longitude 97 degrees at the 38th parallel, start time 47 minutes ago, give or take a few seconds. It's not quite pinned down, but the tech says origination is at House Prima Nocta. All the perimeter alarms are going off, you're lucky you got out. The whole complex is in lockdown."

Kylo stared at him, non-plussed as the obnoxious drum beat was joined by the thumping bass of his heartbeat. He couldn't have left at more perfect moment. Too perfect. Maybe it was an assassination attempt. Rey was still there, or was she-? He felt nothing at first, then a faint feeling of something not-right. He began to pace the deck, uncharacteristically worried. The ambient welcome music swirling about the dock changed tracks; a woman's voice sang in halting cadences; it grabbed Kylo's attention, adding a piercing wail of electrified voice that seemed to be speaking to him directly, summing up the whole mess that just happened:

_I have nothing left, and all I feel is this cruel wanting,_ _We've been falling for all this time, and now I'm lost in paradise_

An unexpected stab of white heat began to pierce his chest, making him stagger and with another invisible hit, he fell to his knees, overcome by the pain. He clutched his chest, gasping unrecognizable sounds of agony, as some part of him deep within resonated with some unknown agonizing despair.

The shockwave of the anomaly hit the wounded knight with a dizzying thump; time seemed to waver for a few milliseconds as the invisible pressure washed over the dock, bringing the second shock of a distorted female voice assaulting his mind, screaming _dontyoudareleavemeIwillkillyouimscarediloveyouimlostfindmetakemehomeimlostinparadise_ in a sobbing babble that broke off abruptly.

The dock sprang back to life, the portmaster signaling the hands and porters now rushing to put everything back to rights. Kylo heaved a sigh of relief that the incident was over; then suspicious, he pushed his way to the portmaster's station and had the details checked. The epicenter coordinates were confirmed as Prima Nocta; Kylo broke into a cold sweat when realized just how close he'd come; it had to be an as assassination attempt, surely. Someone had to have been onto his trip here; he had the ship checked with a sniffer program, but it turned up blank. Suspicious, he overrode the security and had Rey's ship sniffed, but it was a dead end. He let his brain go to work, sifting through connections, people and theory; with a dull surprise the name of a 'scav kept coming up. A leaden resignation began to harden his heart and again, a strange sensation of something not-right hovering just out reach of his mind's grasp filled him, something scratching at the door, something too faint to be understood.

Kylo abruptly changed his plans and headed back to Canto Bight. He was ready for a good assassin's hunt after having his heart bruised. Once the transport landed, he eagerly jumped to the deck, almost at a run, mouth filling with juices at the thought of hunting down the creature who'd deceived him so cruelly and he would take the greatest pleasure in making her suffer for trying to destroy the golden opportunity of his life, oh yes. He was out for blood.

The penthouse door wore an air of desertion, the gaping tooth of an open door mocking him further. Kylo swept the room, and enraged, he hacked the bed into pieces, still smelling of the girl he'd adored, screaming: "Where?! Where are you? Damn your eyes, you kriffing cur! Where ARE YOU?"

A whisper of un-sound swirled at the edge of the snarling, weeping man's mind; with malicious eyes and an evil grin, he went silent and amped up his inner ear; it faded into silence, but nor before he caught the softest exhale of a word: _Here._ He turned in a deadly swirl of lightsaber, then the sound system jolted on: The words 'and now I'm lost in paradise' hung in the air for long seconds and made Kylo's face drain of all living color.

The lightsaber clattered to the satin-honed granite floor and shut itself off, but not before the odor of scalded blood rose to Kylo's nose. Startled, he retrieved the lightsaber and knelt to examine the stone; the blade had landed on a small spot of blood, now carbonized. Hungry as a wolf, he panted as he searched the penthouse, more blood drops randomly decorating the floor to the door. He broke into a run; it'd been far too long since he allowed himself to hunt like this...

Kylo morphed into a clean hunting machine, jumping, leaping through all obstacles, steady, inexorable as death, his breath coming faster, heart pumping in time with the mental beatbeatbeat of his excitement of the chase. The un-sound of _Here_ returned to taunt, with fleeting image of a blurred female form. His senses shifted gear, the invisible radar a fine pinpoint of attention; softly, stealthily, he moved through the crowds in the galleries of Prima Nocta, as he edged closer to the focus of his psychic attack.

He was so close he could smell her blood, his eyes anxiously scanned the galleries and half lighted hallways, looking for brown skin, brown hair. He disgustedly passed over a passed out bar-rat in bedraggled blanks, whom had fallen to the ground in a haze; after lying deathly still for 3 breaths, a hand reached out and gripped the railing as she drunkenly hauled herself up to her feet, leaving a handprint on the metal bar. Kylo's brain registered it after a few guests unaffected by the anomaly looked back at the woman, consternation on their faces.

 _Handprint? It's her. That's her blood. Can't wait to smell some more of it, darling girl._ The man strode forward to make sure she would leave Prima Nocta in a basket, saber drawn and ready at his side; but too late, she was collapsing, falling to the floor again. Kylo caught her slim form, ready to hiss a final insult to assuage his pride, then was blindsided as Rey croaked out his name, now clinging to him like he was the only thing that mattered in the whole universe, tears running down her face and mixing with the blood from her nose. He heard her now, the psychic babble of a static-filled whisper of _dontyouleavemeIwillkillyouimscarediloveyouimlostfindmetakemehomeimlostinparadise_ filling his soul like a homing beacon.

For the first time in his life, Kylo didn't care if the whole kriffing planet was watching him, the one being in the whole damned universe that actually wanted to be with him was here, in his arms at last.

The rest of Prima Nocta and its occupants were fortuitously preoccupied with their own ringing ears and unbalanced minds in the aftermath of the 3rd anomaly of this season; all they saw was a somberly handsome young man, solicitously assisting another guest, a rather charming young woman who was clearly affected by the incident. They saw what they wanted to see, and largely ignored the pair, whom were both totally absorbed in each step they took, carefully cadenced as the march to the wedding altar.


	12. Chapter 12

A cascade of water gurgled invitingly, its heat sending up billows of steam in the cool air as it filled the small pool, beautifully laser-carved out of a natural boulder of the same black-green granite adorning the penthouse floor in thick smooth slabs. Rey was puzzled at first, then realized she was going to be immersed in the most valuable resource on Jakku; she'd heard about baths, but since old habits died hard, she kept to refreshers and showers; the use of so much water seemed like a sinfully indulgent luxury.

She heard Kylo's tenor in the distance, talking to someone in a low hurried tone, tinged with an adolescent charm, almost coltish in his respectful parting words. She turned her head and saw Matt the dockhand technician at the 'camcon, nodding before switching the channel. Matt dissolved into the familiar profile of the 1st knight of Ren, as another communique was sent; the tense visage of Hux appeared on the screen, suddenly relaxing as the young man coolly reported his mission success elsewhere, his stop-off at Canto Bight and the ensuing distress of another anomaly. Hux almost chortled, hinting the knight should learn to loosen up, offering a list of hand-picked favorite companions. Kylo smoothly hinted iio's show was the draw, and let the dissolute general fill in the blanks of Kylo's conversation. A 3rd call to the concierge desk was a list of medical supplies, some arcane herbal medicine and acupuncture tools; fresh clothing, and servants to replace the mess of feathers and splintered wood that used to be a bed.

A few moments later, his feet came into her view, now bare of heavy boots and nearly soundless on the stone floor. He looked inexplicably much younger than his 27 years in the simple dark tunic and loose pants every monk wore; he unwound the loose drape off his shoulder, neatly folding the ebony raw silk into a tidy parcel before turning to Rey.

He silently examined her, his mind using the gentlest of probes; satisfied, he withdrew, sitting back on his heels a moment, tilting his head and shaking it before speaking: "Well. Now you know. I'll fix your body as best as I can tonight, but from this moment on, you're training under me. And you're staying with me until you can control it." He turned to scoop a handful of mineral salts from a bowl and let them gently drop into the hot water of the bath; while sternly he delivering his compliment: "Clever minx. Asking the way to go home and hitchhiking a ride. Bet you threw up. I did. Twice."

Rey shook her head, awed that he'd been through the wild ride and lived to tell about it.

"No? I'm jealous, now. The Force is different for each of us." He busied himself with undressing his new student, his hands deftly loosening ties and slipping the delicate fabric off her shoulders, the gown falling off with a soft rustle as he lifted her and lowered her into the hot water. His own garb followed a similar pattern, and he stepped in, settling himself with a soft exhale of pleasure as the heat began to soak into his flesh. There would be plenty of time after this moment to put the fear of the Force into her, so he picked up a washcloth and began his seduction of her heart by gently cleaning her bloodied nose.

Sometime later, after the water had been poured over her head like an offering, did Rey have the courage to try and caress his body, a handful of water gently smoothing a bit of soap foam off his shoulder, and travelling downward, in a simple, direct gesture of appreciation. Her hand was caught before it dipped lower, and as he ever so quietly disengaged her flesh from his, he spoke: "I would. Any man would; but right now, we're not just any man and woman. We have to...come to terms with it. I thought I lost you. I thought you were my assassin. Neither is a place I want to be again." His face was naked with vulnerability as he hoarsely admitted: "Stars only know what you thought. And you still did it, no training, no support. You are damn fearless, my lady."

"Yours?" Rey inquired, intrigued by the unguarded admission.

"This can be anything you want it to be..." He swallowed, steeling himself for her next rejection, then gave her his proposal.

"Rey, all great stories have a beginning; and we could have an incredible story of our own. Even beautiful. Tonight, we're new, it's fresh and raw to both of us. Yet you nearly managed to die- lost in a time lapse, and I was ready to murder you for just saying no to me. We both need to learn some self-control. Trust. I don't want to look for love. I know it's right here. I need to remove the barriers I have built against it. And you, my lady scorpion, needs to lower her sting. You've been on your own too long and without anyone you can trust your back to, much less such a fiercely tender heart. I'm asking that some foundation of trust be built first. Leave the body bliss for the right time, and I promise you I'll give you not just a night to remember, but a lifetime of nights to remember."

_So that's what he really wants...the whole romance. Who can blame him? He never had a drop, neither did I._ Rey eyed him steadily, letting her eyes sparkle with warmth, no hint of rejection in the tawny hazel depths, a golden brown forest budding new green that gave his hungry soul a warm safe place to hide. She felt the rightness of his thoughts, rolled them around in her mind, considering her own needs, then found herself slowly nodding her agreement, but with a heated glint in her eye that made Kylo flush.

A soft chime announced the arrival of the services he'd ordered and Rey took the advantage of  Kylo's temporary confusion to tease him: "Oh. The bed. Shall I cancel it? Won't be much good for anything but sleeping." She lightly stepped out of the bath with a careless swing of her voluptuous hips, making the man's mouth go dry as she left the bath half nude, a robe also carelessly falling over her wet body.

She looked before opening the door, and played the gracious guest as the butler strutted in, followed by his service crew, who rapidly began to set things to rights, verifying the medicines as they laid them out, even allowing the butler to fuss over the fit of her new blanks as the master of the house stewed and fumed over her tease.

_Bitch._

_Bastard._

_Eat it._

_Bite it._

_Kiss my Ass, Mistress...unless you rather it was the butler, you shameless flirt._

_Nah. The bed isn't made yet. Wanna eat? Butler says they have those fresh water-creatures tonight - will eating mess my stomach up after your medicine?_

She let the butler pick a modest yet exquisite selection of fish that he guaranteed would supplement the monk's medical treatment she was about to receive and not sit heavily on the stomach. By the time the bed was set up, the food arrived, and the butler swelled with pride at her innocent and unguarded delight at the delicately arranged slices of raw and cooked fish on the simple pretend-rustic dishes and chopsticks, hand crafted from precious materials.

Kylo's mood lightened considerably during the meal, the lack of heaviness eased his mind, stressed from the incidents. He felt the proposal had been accepted, despite its difficulties. It would be so damned easy to fall into bed, keep her innocent, a cherished pet, but he knew it'd be just another kind of cage, just like the one he'd been in for the past 10 years. _What's this? Kylo Ren, the 1 st knight of Ren, squirming over the thought of using someone to his own ends?_ The dark side of him suddenly giggled, malicious and cruel. _This is my own ends, and it's MY way, or the highway on this one. _He chased off the dark, promising it would have its fill of what it wanted in the near future. But not her. Never her.

The healing treatment of her body's meridians brought the evening to a peaceful closure; any time manipulation disoriented the human body's nervous system; too many jumps or lapses resulted in permanent damage, as Kylo carefully explained, his fingers moving gracefully, slipping in needles, tapping, wafting the threads of the smoking aromatic resins over her prone body on the newly made bed. 

After Kylo removed the needles and put away the herbs, Rey was extremely relaxed, but not as sleepy as she appeared. Kylo retired to the flet by the pool, circumspect as a real monk, leaving Rey to the now too-large bed.

She softly asked him to keep his access point in contact, she wanted to feel the comfort of his presence while she slept; it felt reassuring to be able to reach out and monitor his heartbeat or hear his breathing;she admitted she was still a little unsteady after the time lapse and worried about nightmares. As he slipped into sleep she caught an erotic image of herself; with a shock she saw he was unabashedly, awesomely excited by  the sight of her firm and voluptuous body, teasing Rey with half glimpsed feelings of sexual awareness with a cascade of pheromones filling the air from the exhalations as he drifted in warm dark, eyelids closed; she almost whistled as she felt the soft release of hormones orchestrating in his blood as a lovely yearning ache began to bloom in him; she ever so gently crept into the image replay, tip toeing in like a thief.

She started to softly purr as she subtly encouraged him to think of her more strongly, _don't be no close out, stay with me through the night, its ok...she likes it when you look at her; sure, she'll take her shirt off, yes...imagine all that tanned silky skin clinging against you, yes, touch yourself, she'd tease the nipple into a crest just like that....ohhh..yes, she'd kiss you right there on your hip & lick it too..._her fingers would be slow as honey, soft smooth circles, _that's it...does it feel good or what? No, no shame, let the need be your master, she'd like you wet, you bet you're the sexiest bit of honey she'd ever taste, yes, YES she'd give it to you just like that, nice slow and easy...oh she'd do anything you wanted, she loves that position, she'd give it to you hard and deep, just the way you want it, baby...she wants you, she needs you...she loves you in her...sweet baby boy, c'mon, no shame, tell me what you want...that's it, yeeessss...anything you want...everything you want..._ freed from his conscious mind with its hangups, Rey slowly stroked Kylo's mind as he easily reached an apex of deep, satisfying pleasure and drifted off with him, dreaming she was spooned up next to him in the warm dark, safe and protected.

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few audio tracks gifted by Muse provided some inspiration: Iio's Is It Love ( slow version); Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes; and of course, our favorite bad boy - Billy Idol's Adam In Chains.

For the next two weeks Rey was put through a boot camp that kept her dancing to a tune crazier than saints and sinners and filled with lessons that could not found in any Jedi Scroll, light or dark.  

Her mentor did things at first that made her question his sanity, until she had been cut loose for an evening with a practice mission. True to his Ren training, he had purposely made things go awry, setting off the security alarm, and changed her escape route to a dead end, to see if she could adapt or not. She made it back to the home base of the penthouse an hour and 7 minutes late, smelling to high heaven, as she’d ingeniously utilized a manure chute in the racing stables. 

She met his smugly satisfied look with a glare hot enough to scorch, and did not hesitate to growl at his duplicity; it seemed that she was rather displeased that the elaborate toilette he’d put her through earlier to make a fitting appearance at the grandly formal affair to celebrate the racing champion had been totally obliterated.

Kylo savagely cut her rant short with: ”Get used to it. Quit thinking like a damned peasant, this isn’t some cinder-girl story of being a queen for a night. **You’re the Queen** , Rey. And everyone wants to be the queen. You have a target on your back now. So quit bitching about the kriffing fluff.”

Rey’s retort was equally hot:” Ohhh, really Master Kylo? How about I bitch about the bathroom window that was bricked over? And that damned sheik who grabbed my arse? Was that the target? Humiliate me, you kriffing bastard?”

“What queen would be stupid enough to not check her escape route before the beginning of the game?” Was the whiplashed retort. Undaunted, Rey met his eyes with a rage equal to his volcanic eruption and circled him, looking for a weak spot,  much like her playful namesake.  Kylo outrageously groped her like the wayward sheik from a safe distance of 10 yards, making Rey screech in rage when she felt a very firm squeeze of both cheeks. One corner of his mouth quirked up as she wordlessly stomped off, a trail of violent thoughts left behind to astonish him with her sadism. Apparently a man being forced into a female’s dress was considered the height of humiliation on Jakku.

She gained skills in an incredibly short amount of time, which allowed them to play in earnest; their competitive natures were brought out, and the pair were soon comfortable with beating the hell out of each other in duels of wits, strategy and outright war. The shock and intensity of the omni-directional touch of the Force-bond faded, became acceptable, familiar. Kylo would always receive a goodnight from Rey with an affectionate swirl of thought, a mental caress of sorts that never failed to leave the young man distracted for long moments afterwards. He studiously ignored them at first, but found himself looking for her goodnight as the days passed; and on the one night she didn’t, Kylo found himself dejected.

Restless, he got up from the little isle of loneliness at the edge of the pool, and padded about the penthouse, drifting to the bath on the excuse of getting some herbal oil whose scent relaxed people, even to the point of stupor. The flower it was pressed from was a tiny waxy bud on a tough vine, and grew wild on many planets; _Cessia nocturnum_ only bloomed at night, with an intense sweet fragrance that was perceptible from a hundred yards away, so its nickname name was well-earned: Catch-me-if-you-can.  He drizzled a few drops in his hand, and slowly anointed his temples, breathing in and exhaling to get his mind into a better state. _Admit it, you’re not doing a very good job of catching her interest as a man. But I can’t be easy on her, it might mean her survival. How do I let her know she’s not just any woman to me? Letting my guard down is a harder dance than I thought it would be.  I_

“Hey.” Rey was leaning against the doorframe with a sleepy face. “I dreamt flowers. You can’t sleep? Come to bed.” She took his hand and pulled him forward, walking backwards to the bedroom. He stopped, a fear growing in his eyes. The dark Sith in him uncoiled and hissed mockingly: That's it, keep crawling so you can lick up those crumbs. and you'll take it, because that's all you think you deserve. Or more like that's all they think you deserve.   

He shook his head, overwhelmed with loneliness and anger at himself for letting himself be led to bed so easily, like a child who wants attention, any attention, even if it was bad. Rey, now puzzled, impatiently jerked at his hand, only to have it torn out of hers, as he turned and blindly started to stride away, almost running as the feeling of self-disgust L _ook at yourself, you're s_ o starved for attention, you even enjoy the fights. and fear overwhelmed him. He had made it to the door and had it halfway open, until it was ripped out of his hands, shutting with a bang by Rey’s psychic force, followed by her hand.

“I said come to bed. Last time I looked, it’s back there.“

Kylo, now desperate, tried to use his mind force to open the door, but his will was scattered and she shut it again after he cracked it open a mere six inches, and held him captive,his body was immobile as Rey slowly walked forward, a glint of anger in her eyes. Then he felt a shudder of shameful desire rippling over Kylo's body  as she brushed the deep chestnut silk back, leaning in to slowly brush her mouth against his, her lips softly exploring his leisurely, ending with the gentlest press light as air or angel’s wing.

“Now say it: Kiss me.”

“I…can’t. I can’t trust mys-“ _–elf to  know If this is real, or something my desperation wrought._

She cut him off. ”You can. Now say it. Kiss me.” delivered with a steely ring in her voice he'd not heard before, one that demanded to be obeyed.

“Kiss me.”  The words formed at the very nadir of his throat, and he breathed them out. His sensitive lids lowered in shame. _I’m so damned lonely, I’d be her doormat if it meant not sleeping alone…_ Tears finally overflowed, following the scar on his face.

Rey leaned in to kiss again, but didn't hold back, the contact a direct sensual invitation, then delivered five painfully honest words: “Nobody wants to be alone. Admitting you need your own kind isn’t being a doormat. So say it. I’m lonely. Say it.”

“I’m lonely.” 

“Come to bed.” Ordered a mistress who was queen, _his_ queen; the fierce passionate partner to rule him body and soul that he'd been waiting for a long decade

“Come to bed.” Kylo’s voice was warming to the game now.

She released him, letting him gain the courage to silently reach out, then took his offered hand, letting him lead them back to the bed. With sweet abandon, the pair consummated their bond, their thoughts finally as open as their bodies to each other, both hearts consuming their fill as the inner mounting flame rose to melt the ice and burn the barriers. As the rush came, Kylo was only dimly aware of his own hoarse vocalizations of ecstasy as Rey bit into his shoulder, her own inner cry reverberating at the joyous escape from gravity at last, their trajectory like a bright comet in the dark night sky, exploding then falling back down in delicate frissons of new emotions laid bare: _You….feel for me….oh by the stars, I never expected to find this…_ _Is it love?..._ _Is it love? Is it….love?_

Their bodies now exhausted, they spiraled back down into the warm dark of sleep, tangled in each other’s dreams as the moon watched down fondly from her silver bubble in the indigo sky.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay in posting. Unavoidable circumstances occurred.

The moon was setting in the night skies when Kylo awoke; he nearly tripped getting out of bed, as he discovered that the Alderaanic lover’s knot around their wrists was not the fantasy in his dream last night, after all. He almost felt ashamed as the intimate thoughts he’d expressed came back to haunt him, but then with a wry smile, he let a sense of glee overcome the shame. It was not what he expected, but it was the adventurous path he’d chosen.

He laid back down after he’d slipped his lover’s bonds and drank the water his body craved; watching Rey peacefully breathe relaxed him, and he enjoyed the sight of her without clothing. He could never get over the silky gleam of her sun-kissed skin and wondered if he’d ever turn the same color if they trekked together. He drew a finger across the smooth skin and he shuddered with an ache for more. He’d been hungry for so long, he didn’t want to leave her, not at all.   _Later…wait…stay frosty, be patient. I can’t take her; where I have to go, no one has gone for a very long time. Better to hide her, keep her safe. She’s clever enough to be my queen, our bond grows every day, but does she have faith in…me?_

Rey stirred at the caress, and Kylo put his thoughts aside for one more stolen hour of bliss; he, too, had to fill his memory with moments to keep his faith strong.

Sometime during their morning run, he announced the lesson of the day would be given by someone else. Rey didn’t question him, a good sign, but couldn’t help a twinge of jealousy when she found out it was iio and her entourage of musicians.

The performer iio was a statuesque woman, tinted in warm ambers head to foot, even to her skin, a creamy caramel that gave off the sensual vibe of an edible confection; however, the candy-kiss skin hid a razor sharp business woman, a canny, adaptable military brat who lived base to base on half a dozen planets by the time she was 17.

She’d known she was a force talent since puberty, and immediately sought help in honing her talent, never committing to a side of the Force, choosing the stony path of balance with the self-discipline of a monk. After her mandatory military duty, she left the wars and became her own business. There were other morphing acts like hers, but she broke new ground, taking the stilted genre to the next level. She knew shape shifting and masking fascinated deadheads, but most talents lacked originality and were terrible at business, so frequently they were forced into the seedier venues for sex by avaricious ‘managers’.

She had herself augmented by a top cyber engineer the day after she was discharged, then with her head buzzing, she went to work creating a ferocious act, incorporating her imagination with her musicians into a surreal journey for 1 hour and 6 minutes playfully titled ‘a circus of the mind’. Her first show was in the Oldtown sector of Canto Bight, home to all flotsam and jetsam of the docks and sold out for 17 weeks straight.

Kylo appreciated iio’s balancing act, taking more than one page from her book of lessons to help him deal with his own talent and situation. iio knew Kylo was a swordsman, she’d seen him in action, the lower gaming hells held knife fights on the mid-week cycle nights – he was a demon with a desert knife and won her a damn good bet against a Tarkarian once. She also knew he was a talent, but never knew how deep it went; he was a plasteel wall inside. No one got in – except the adorable bit of spitfire at his side. Iio assumed he was in the guard of the other man and his mistress, likely on the same base or ship somewhere.

As the swordsman and his protégé made their way through the discreet mid-level gallery lounge at Prima Nocta, iio lounged indolently in a private booth in the back with her fellow performers, the table a cluttered landscape of beverages, food, and stacks of the twiddly holotrays holding love notes, foreign currency and casino markers, which lay there with a faint air of neglect.

The little clan of musicians were all augmented, and showed mild interest in the pair of non-augments; they were too wrapped up in their own creations-in-process to question the pair closely, but offered ready advice once the topic of morphing was brought up. Their performances were carefully planned, the practice sessions were brutal, as anything less than a complete immersive experience got them booed off stage. However, when it went right, and the stars aligned, a performer could transcend the audience’s minds, and be worshipped like the next messiah for it. They nodded sagely when the tall male described his partner’s gauche blackout after her first multi-morph.

“She’s got the knack of creating multiplicity, but doesn’t understand it…like you do.”

“And like you don’t?”

Kylo shot a warning glance before replying: “Oh, I know a little, but she’s got more natural talent than me. I was hoping you’d help her, so she builds her morphs with a solid technique and doesn’t kill her self trying. You know I think you’re the best.”

Iio took the hint gracefully, almost smiling at the thought of the haughty swordsman baldly admitting someone was better than he. She smoothly pulled Rey into their practice session, chasing Kylo off, sending him to her favorite bath house for his own lesson in relaxation.

As the evening sky filled the glass dome of the penthouse with its kaleidoscope of brilliant colors, the door cracked open and Rey came running in on light feet; she threw her partner an invitation in iio’s signature colors of black and gold, and dashed to the bath.  Kylo amusedly read that they were on the A-list tonight for some fund-raising gala in one of the upper galleries. He decided to let go of lessons tonight and give training a break.  And there was always opportunity for a pop quiz before the end of the evening.

Kylo and Rey felt like the new royalty of Prima Nocta tonight; the gala reminded them of nothing and no one, they felt powerful, the Force flowing free as the sparkling fizzy beverage being splashed in the pretty hologlass goblets. Rey looked lovely, but the look in her eyes was Kylo’s food tonight; he felt like he was the center of the universe, and some part of him started to stop bleeding and scab over finally. For once, everything was falling into place, and maybe, just maybe the future could be different, there would be no fork in the road, no heartbreak of goodbye.  

Iio and her band launched into a deliciously lazy rhythm; she had privately decided that the young man needed a little help in attaining his girl’s attention. She liked the girl’s air of strength and positivity, it was rubbing off on Kylo. He looked more human, with warmer eyes, reflecting deep warm shades of Koa wood and not cold black ice. He was a toothsome piece of flesh when he decided to pay attention to his appearance – his hair was now glossy from brushing, his breath was clean and the lips moist, their full contours ready to be caressed, bitten and teased open to lick the honey inside.

Kylo and Rey were in the middle of the mad crush of the main floor as the attendees eagerly crowded to the stage to see the show up close and personal. The mass of beings were all excited, intoxicated and ready to express their primal desires to the beat of the hottest act in Canto Bight; the two young gods for the night were impolitely shoved up against each other, elbowed and doused with champagne, sloshing from bottles in unsteady hands, which caused them to roll their eyes and repeat in tandem: _let’s get out of here_.

The music had everyone moving and grooving, so the pair could only advance a step or two at a time, but they quickly caught the trick of moving to the beat to escape the crush. It was a mad moment, but suddenly it wasn’t frightening, it was _fun_ , dancing their way through a crazed crowd to iio’s infectious beat. The exhilaration of the moment translated into a sensual lightness of being; no one knew them or gave them any attention, they were just another couple in the pulsating mass of party-goers. Kylo remembered a similar evening, and threw caution away.

He dug deeper into the sound, his hips making a maddening rhythm she couldn’t ignore. This time the tables were turned, it was Kylo who became the center of Rey’s attention; the music and movement combined into a dizzying wave of intoxication, and all she could do was cling to the lean strength of his arms and let it happen. She hadn’t wanted anyone as much as the passionate man throbbing against her before in her life, and feeling the desire in his mind as well was a rush of instant addiction; she’d never be with a normal man again; she finally understood the half pitying, half disgusted tone behind the word deadhead.

With a silent laugh, Kylo caught her thought and did something unspeakably sexy: he smiled. With a flash of white teeth and an irrepressible devilish spark in his eyes, he spoke directly in her mind: _Want to know why you’ll really never do a deadhead?_

 _Why?_ Rey innocently asked.

The next 30 seconds were mind-blowing; it was a million mile journey to ecstasy and back, all in the space of a few breaths, and he’d done it all with just the power of his mind.

He was also breathing hard, the thigh muscles were quivering from exhaustion, yet his arms were rock solid about his queen of the night. The pair of lovers caught each other’s eyes, the heat mounting to cheeks as they realized they just had an extraordinary moment of unabashed desire gone wild….in the middle of Prima Nocta.  For a second, the moment was perfect. They were together; they were king and queen of their universe. Nothing would separate them. Nothing.


	15. Chapter 15

Iio’s mental whistle jerked the pair of lovers back into the real world; she cut off their embarrassment with a terse bulletin: _Oi. Lovebirds. Deadhead at 10 o’clock, 500 yards. It’s that asshole redhead._

Rey didn’t need to be told to mask. In the blink of an eye, Kylo found himself holding a bar rat with iio’s signature black and gold livery, and she had the presence of mind to look stoned on whatever the air was full of. Hux was tensely looking over the crowd, and visibly relaxed once he saw Kylo, and grinned at his victory, finding the fierce knight of the First Order dry humping on some drunk girl, probably in the throes of a breakup, judging by the unhappy yet very buzzed look on her face. He signaled to Kylo, waving him over with a smug look, and prepared to have a little fun at the somber young man’s expense before he headed to the lower galleries to tryst with a favorite girl.

Kylo dropped a wad of credit chips down bar rat Rey’s shirt, idly dismissing her with a sneering comment: “Drift. Or drown for all I care.” _GO. Pack and get out. If there’s any F.O. guard, don’t bother. Just get to your ship. If barred, take mine. Passcode is her name, get it? Safe haven notes in both ships. If you can’t get to mine, just get to iio. She’ll help you.. This is not a drill._ The man turned killing machine drifted off into the swelling black tide of party-goers, the mental connection that she had taken for granted swirling and dissipating like the sand to the tide into the mental ocean of minds in the gallery, and suddenly she was alone.

And that was the last she saw of Kylo for 2 days. On the 3rd day, iio gently prodded her: _Oi, little scorpion. Your big brother sent a message. Connect._

Rey made her way from iio’s exquisitely appointed apartment bloc to the studio; iio kept her eyes on the score she was reading, and silently moved over to let Rey sit on the well worn bench; Rey proceeded to turn the pages of the score, presenting a perfect picture of a pair of pretty performers practicing, as spies were everywhere, sniffing for any dirt on Kylo Ren. _Ok. Here ya go. Follow me._ Iio gently drew Rey into a grey hole within her mind and soon a playback like a camcorder began to fill the grey.

Kylo wasn’t there, just the velvety voice speaking against a backdrop of a pleasant mediocre outdoor space, one of thousands in Canto Bight.

_Well. It’s time. The wheel of change has been set into motion, and like love, there are no rules, no order of events. As I suspected, Snoke is weakening without me, despite the Praetorian guard he has about him. He will be here tonight. He will come to secure his position as the leader, but will not leave as such. The Force indicates its will. He will be very clever, and I will let him be so. If you are the queen I taught you to be, come and watch. Fear nothing, trust nothing of what is said or seen.  When the time is right, be your namesake and…sting. Then get off this planet and run hard. When the time is right, I will come claim you and show the universe the queen I have come to love._

The voice gave no hint of fear, but Rey felt a dark terror sweep over her as she thought of Snoke, and all the tortures such an ancient evil could devise. She looked at iio, eyes welling with unshed tears, choking the words: ”If that thing…ever takes anything of him, I’ll kill him.”

Iio gave a crooked, wry grin as she replied: “ I think that’s exactly what he hopes you’ll do, little scorpion. Come, let’s get ready. We’re going to a helluva party.  Give that man something to remember.”

The pair of women dressed most becomingly for the intimate banquet for the First Order leaders, whom were courting a selection of mining corporations and manufacturers for contracts. Iio’s choices were interesting: a composite fiber catsuit that could change structure from liquid knit to rigid armor at her command, installed in her augmentation code; a grand ballroom skirt, a pair of micro light sabers which Rey eyed with interest, and a dazzling necklace of sunseye gems, which she shrugged off at Rey’s dropped jaw: ”Hey. I am a girl. If I’m gonna die, may as well be with my favorite bling, ya know?”

She had a similar catsuit for Rey, but sleeveless and legs cut short, with a simple desert tunic in black to help disguise the armor. Rey stuck her light saber in at the waist and dropped Kylo’s khanjar down her back, then ensured her hair was up in her usual triple knot. Thoughtfully, iio finished the ensemble with a wrapped cord on the wrist; it too, dazzled with gems. “Never know, you might need a meal or a new starship. And it’ll get you onto Canto Bight as my guest again. Which means you better come back, girl.”

The banquet room was close to the docks, a lovely floating bubble in the atmosphere. The attendees were mildly intoxicated, covering their nervousness at the presence of the First Order guard with a fluffy haze of pretend-indifference.

After the conclusion of the dinner and entertainment, the contracts were signed and the Praetorians escorted Snoke in, regally sitting on a small hover-flet; he’d had the vanity to veil himself from head to foot with gauzy silk in First Order crimson, so no one could clearly see his face under the sheer fabric, adding to the mystique of the leader of the First Order.

On cue, the Praetorians knelt as one and presented arms to their leader. The observers gave a polite smattering of applause, dying off into a strained silence as Snoke raised his hand. A languid voice spoke, equal to Kylo Ren’s velvet catspaw, but far more sinister: “…And where is our First Knight?”

A tall slim figure was seen slowly making his way through the small crowd at the back of the banquet room in due time; he appeared neither hurried,  nor subservient, an equal in every way to the powerful being on the throne. When he came close to the throne he stopped, but did not kneel as he formerly did, standing calmly, his hands folded at his waist, the drape of his simple black monk’s robes a surprise to all who knew him as Kylo Ren, the 1st Knight of First Order.

iio kept her thoughts to herself, but nearly whistled as she discovered who Kylo really was. _Damn. He’s the heir apparent to FO? No wonder his mind was a closed door. You have some wild taste in men, little scorpion._

Meanwhile, Snoke was mildly annoyed at his heir, whom was acting out his petty resistance for the umpteenth time. He decided to be annoying in return, and looked forward to a little humiliation of the half Alderaanic royal boy; it would be good to remind everyone of the power of the dark side of the Force, everyone remembered Alderaan.

“Well. Look at you. Bored with waiting for this?” Snoke gently stroked the armrest, fingernails producing an uncomfortable rasp against the metal. “You’ll get it when *I* decide, and only *if* I decide, Prima Ren. So, you have you been whoring again in Canto’s playgrounds? Or has power finally become your lover? Not many look upon a monk’s robes as courting plumage.” Snoke allowed himself a slight drop of venomous humor to poison Kylo’s confidence in the last sentence. He looked for the usual signs and found none, much to his surprise. Kylo stood calm, fearless.

“As they say, only birds sing in Canto. Hasn’t your flock told you? I’m courting. A queen for my throne room.”

 “Oh, a queen it is you seek? DO you not trust me as your master to provide a suitable peer? Do you persist in thinking that you can defy my wishes time and time again and not pay for it? I should have you stripped of rank, until you see the error of your ways, my Prima Knight.”

“I am not your Prima knight. I am no man's knight. And if you think to rule through me, you are mistaken. I will have my throne, and my queen.”

Snoke’s hand  extended, and bent his will to the young man; he began to force him to kneel, but Kylo’s will held and his knees did not hit the floor. Enraged, Snoke used precious energy and gave him the brunt of his ire; Kylo masterfully countered his strikes in a brilliant defense until Snoke began hurling the praetorian’s weapons at him, jerking them from their hands with the Force, creating a deadly hail of energy that distracted the young knight for long moments; then Snoke swept his feet and lifted him into the air, shaking him like a puppet, as joints dislocated and bones broke. He tore the lightsaber from Kylo’s holster and tauntingly laid it by his right hand, leaving Kylo weaponless.

Sneering, Snoke raised his voice to deliver another acid peeling: “You damned Alderaanic cur, you will do as I say as my servant for as long as it please me! Until then, there is only ONE master here and no mistress!”

Snoke’s visage grinned and laughed as Kylo writhed, his evil plain to see to all the horrified watchers; their horror was brought to a screaming climax as the torso of the fearsome leader suddenly fell forward on the floor, illuminated by the ruddy glow of a lightsaber resting across the throne, melting into the metal with a ferocious energy.

Kylo dropped from his crucifixion 12 feet off the ground, but only a simple monk’s drape hit the plasteel deck.

Rey blankly stared for 3 seconds, along with the other attendees of the macabre party. Her jaw dropped as she realized Kylo’s grasp of the Force was as masterly as his grandfather’s, and she began to hyperventilate at the thought of the power he possessed now.

Then a feeling swept through the minds of the observers like a tsunami, a subsonic thrum, slowly rising to an audible tone, like the deep booming ring of a bell, but somehow more powerful, resonant. It filled the body with a holy terror, yet exhilarated them all.

Time seemed like it slowed, the sound waves rippling in a palpable way; everybody and everything took on the curious effect of being underwater, clothing, weapons, hair gently vibrating and waving in the invisible waves around them.

Kylo’s soft black cat voice resounded in everyone’s ears; it sounded so very gentle, yet one felt the strength of will behind the words, he was no longer a puppet of Snoke with an adolescent trickery of the force, but a panther who could just as easily pounce and rend anything he chose to red ribbons as easily as turning away with a twitch of a tail.

 “I am the vessel for both light and dark now. Cross the will of the force, either for too much of dark or of light, and I will become its weapon. Do you understand? Balance must be restored. It starts with you, all of you, here. Now. Choose….carefully.”

_Thy sting is perfect, my queen E’qraba. Now RUN._

Rey called the lightsaber on the throne to her, and bolted for the door, hacking her way through the praetorian guard; iio followed, her hand sabers a sharp retort to anyone who cared to tread on the new queen’s tail. Once they cleared the room, they broke into a dead run for a shuttle to the docks, commandeering one and came in at a very unsafe speed, skidding into the general bay. The portmaster had been well bribed, and did his act of being held hostage to two lovely women determined to get their way, and overrode the security system by letting iio drive a hand saber into the cam screen when his first mate said no at first. They fired the thrusters at an unsafe distance from the docking bay and left a 20 yard burn on the plasteel deck, desperately trying to clear orbit so they could hit hyperspace and put Canto Bight in their rearview cams.

Hux and 2 units of troopers were swarming the dock, and savagely Hux gave the order to fire the cannons: “Blow the bloody queen, make him pay for it, fire FIRE!” Vindictive, exultant, Hux saw a ship crumple, then explode into a million white hot fragments as the cannon plasma detonated in the hull.

Rey and iio went wide-eyed and cried out in pain as they felt the thump and vibration of the direct hit on the Scorpion, then were blinded from the flare of the explosion; Rey simply hit hyperdrive, and let it jump, as her reason for living, the savior of the Force that everyone in the universe, including her, had hoped for, flamed out and fell to Canto Bight in a rain of cold black ash.

 


	16. Chapter 16

The silence was too much to bear for Rey. After 3 days of grimly diving into the Force-currents, searching for even a whisper of Kylo, she broke. She beat her hands bloody before iio woke up and bluntly yanked her into the shower, spraying her with ice cold water to bring her back to her senses, then let her sob into her shoulder. Eons later, she fell into an exhausted sleep, her fists clenched and her smooth brow knotting and unknotting as she chased a burning tri-glide down endless wormholes in her dreams.

It was iio whom locked away the light sabers, spooned soup down her throat, and covered her with blankets as she piloted the Falcon to the safe haven. It was a backwater of a planet, with lush jungles and sugar sand beaches, fairly well forgotten by the First Order, since it held no ore or Khyber crystals, and the local population simply shrugged and said they’d do it tomorrow, if ordered to do some task or errand. There was a small desert near the equator, hedged by tall bluffs etched by time into striated humps and strange curves, and that is where they made camp: Khajhakan, a picturesque trading town that sat like a jewel in a protected bay on the ocean, protected by the red hued bluffs. But at least it was desert heat, and it warmed Rey’s bones, until she remembered the meetings on Ahch-To, which made her weep again.

Rey and iio eventually got to know each other as friends, disclosing their pasts in shy bits and pieces, slowly accepting each other’ confidences as they realized that the man that had held their secret hope was long dead and gone.

Iio always argued calmly that Rey had just as much power, she just needed to complete her training, and urged her to go back to Ahch-To. “You are his match, his complement, don’t you see? The Force just needed a balance of power to keep the flow unblocked. Who says you can’t carry on his work with another Force sensitive? Master Luke has his own dark side, yes? Besides, I’m dying to get with my troupe and wallow in Canto’s shops, Rey. Why not just visit?”

“Master Luke may disown me if he knows I had an affair with his star student, iio – he was very frightened of Kylo’s power.”

“But maybe it was because he recognized he had his own pull to the dark side; Obi-Wan Kenobi might have done him disservice by putting him Master Yoda. He was such a puritan.”

Iio rolled her eyes, before taking another swig off her beverage, which was a healthy distillation of local fruit at 90 proof alcohol.  She poured another cup for Rey, whom imitated iio and let a dose slide down her throat with a gentle burn. iio had kept up with the news, hearing that the First Order was pursuing peace treaties with a full half dozen planets and changed its policy on contract slave labor. It appeared that the thrum of power from Kylo had caused terror in the leadership; but she puzzled over why Hux had not issued a universal order to hunt them; she read he'd stepped down from his position, especially puzzling after his main rival was blown to plasma hell and back months ago. She wondered if he was on some secret mission or task force in the Senate and prayed he was occupied with making a snug nest for himself and not thinking of hunting them. She could sense Rey was restless also, too many memories souring what was obviously a snug honeymoon nest for the fate-crossed lovebirds. It was a pity, really. They had been a good match. 

“ Look, Rey. You’re going to have to come to terms with it sooner or later. You can’t sit here and grieve over Kylo Ren, or keep searching like you do. You can’t lie to me, I know you still ping for his pattern. Even if he time shifted, it might have been too late. Plasma cannon fire can still burn at hyperspeed. Why not just go back for a visit? You can mask with ease, hell, woman, you can mask the entire ship for 3 days straight if you wanted to.

All I’m saying is fate left you here, not Kylo. You know the Force was always looking for an arbiter of balance; you are the one who must find someone now. And it won’t be a huge 10 year quest like Kylo’s. He had to stay hidden from Snoke. So take it on. If you loved him, take it on, sister.”

“I’ll never have anyone like him again, iio. I don’t think I could stand having anyone else in my mind.”

“Shards and splinters. No, there won’t be anyone like him. But you can learn to trust again. You let me in, right? So who’s to say you can’t find a friend or two like you? Did it say in the scrolls you must be love bonded and well as Force bonded? It might take a team of six to make up for such a loss of talent, but at least it’d be better than no arbiter.”

Rey  stared at iio, startled. She’s never thought she could go on after that fateful night of joining with Kylo, there was no one else she could hold in heart. But the Force talented show woman lazily sipping Jeninjoos underneath the palm trees just held up a large sign that said ‘EXIT’ and gave her a reason to keep on living. She wryly tilted her head before announcing: “Fire the engines up, and kick me in the ass if I balk, sister. Life wins. Or in any case, it’s always right.”

The pair headed out that evening, Rey wistfully sighing that such a small paradise was not to be enjoyed with her lost lover, but she firmly put her heart in order as she approached Canto Bight. She let iio handle the permissions, and was soon surrounded by the hubbub of the main dock; if it had been dock 13 for Prima Nocta, she might have broke again, but iio chose wisely. The dock was for common guests and performers got ramp 9 all to themselves, so iio had little trouble being recognized.

By the time they reached her apartment bloc, a crowd of well-wishers and her band were there to greet her, excited that their feisty, fierce singer had come back, and with a new talent to boot. After shutting the doors to her old apartment, she effusively bonded with her group and settled in for a long session of re-acquaintance; it’d been six months of interstellars only, and they were hungry for each other’s touch. They unceremoniously dragged in Rey, but gently trod on the edge of her mind, as they all had experienced such losses before; they simply let her know they were there and let her reach out.

It felt strange, but satisfying to converse again mind to mind, project images, receive mental touches that she had taken for granted. The session lasted well into the night, iio happily falling asleep on the large seating pit with her crew, looking somewhat charming, like a litter of kittens all somehow touching each other. The youngest one, Steele, the percussionist, was the one to wake and gently tether Rey to the group with a silky cord of kitten-friendly invitation, letting his hand slide down her arm in a gentle non-pushy caress.  

Rey put away her misgivings; she was tired of fighting the loneliness; she lay down on the edge on the group, and drifted off into the small Force current eddying in the apartment. It was comforting to float there, lightly attached to other minds; the pain of the silence dulled to a low throb in the background, and for the first time in six months, 9 days, 22 hours and 37.4 seconds she could breathe. _I guess we were right for each other, because we were wrong for everybody else, Kylo. I never knew what you wanted to name yourself, I have no idea what to write on your tombstone. What was I supposed to call you when you came to claim me, after  subduing the whole bloody First Order? I’ll never know, and that’s what hurts. You know what else hurts? I wish I’d been able to say I love you._

Rey’s sorrow was now quieter; six months ago she knew she had gone mad, and was profoundly grateful iio had taken up the part of her friend. Now she had to learn to live all over again, make new friends, learn new minds and try to find someone who could help her take on the massive task of keeping balance in the Force. She felt the little touch of the darkness of Kylo, cherished it, because it was all she had left of him, besides the light saber.

She spoke to it as if it were him, imagining him lounging lazily on the big couch by her in his simple monk’s tunic, dark hair falling in his eyes. She said the things she could never say out loud, and her feelings rose to a fine pitch of longing and love as she continued to be buoyed by the gentle ripple of Force energy of the sleeping musicians; she tenderly resurrected his psychic pattern from the spark of black that she loved and sent off into the great amazon with all the love, passion and fury of her young life, listening to the invisible beings sing _I-love-you_ as it was passed from point to point until it disappeared from outermost reaches of her extended mind.

 _That’s the last time I’ll do that,_ she promised herself. _I’ll move forward now. iio’s right, I have to do what I can._

She put her hand into Steele’s, laid her head on iio’s shoulder and let herself be lulled back into sleep by the rasp and buzz of six minds. The next thing she knew she was hurled across the room, as a red raging torrent washed over the group, now awake, and scrambling for their lives, throwing a net of protection over themselves. For nanoseconds they all felt the tremendous surge of energy of an anomaly; the barest glimpse of travelling at dizzying speed and a mindless babble of a voice left them all disoriented to the point of retching.

After several minutes, they moaned and struggled to regain balance; half were with bloody noses, and all were nearly deaf, their ears ringing at a high pitch. Dawn broke before they could all be taken care of, and they were a sorry sight with medical gauze stiffed in noses and looking like they’d been on an all-night bender in lowest gaming hells of Canto Bight instead of a peaceful group-think in an exclusive apartment bloc.

They all checked the news, and there was no report of any anomaly, deepening the confusion and the little group fell into glum spirits. They decided to go rest and get their practice started in the evening, each secretly determined to solve the mystery of an anomaly occurring just between them. Iio put it down to Rey’s presence attracting unfriendly forces, but then, the main antagonist was sliced in half six months ago, and Hux was a deadhead. She figured he'd be slow, more interested in his own skin than theirs.

She idly discussed theory with her oldest partners as they showered and cleaned the messes in the great room, and concluded that it was related to Rey, but why they did not know: they all saw the dizzying rush of Force-current, heard the same mindless voice, albeit indistinct, but still a voice of some kind; Steele said he felt something like anger, wondering if it were a poltergeist; Sandrin the synth bass player echoed that, but being more sensitive, said it was more like a feeling of passion, mixed with anger; he said the babble reminded him of his mantras and prayers when he was young, and swore he’d heard the word _mine_ before the nausea overtook him. Iio wisely asked Rey if she did or said anything, and Rey owned up to the fact she sent a final search for Kylo’s pattern. Iio’s face registered understanding, and calmly soothed everyone with the theory that Rey’s Force manipulation had brought back a poltergeist of sorts: The last seconds of Kylo’s  thoughts before the plasma cannon did its work on the ship.  

The group looked amazed, as none of them had ever seen a pattern search go so far back in time. A few minutes, or an hour or two was the best they’d ever done. Sandrin said he’d go look up the dock’s archived records to date it, claiming it a new universal record, then clumsily hugged Rey before taking his turn in iio’s luxurious bath, with a never ending supply of hot water.

Rey’s eyes were still red, and she longed for the quiet of nature to soothe her jangled nerves; she’d been bruised by the jarring separation and wondered what invisible hand had been so unkind. She threw on a light drape over her blanks and exited hastily before she started to cry again. Steele made to go after her, but iio restrained him: _Hold off there, little brother. Let her come to you. She has to come to grips with her world now, and if being in the middle of a star-blessed dung pile on the racer’s paddocks makes her feel whole again, then let her do it. She’s only begun to realize her part in what Kylo Ren planned; he tried to tell her that the female is the dominant of our species in the Force, but she never put it together before the coup happened._

Steele let go of the door and slowly came back to iio, staring. “I know you’re one hellacious talent, and you’re my queen, iio…but you mean to say she’s stronger than the freakin’ 1st knight of the Order? Shards of shite and light, that’s one scary thought. No wonder he chased her as hard as he did.”

Iio chuckled as she mentally caressed Steele’s crushed ego before heading to her room to change into a fresh set of blanks. Sandrin came back after an half an hour, and signaled everyone to come back to the great room. He was solemn faced as he quickly set up his holo display; “You are not going to believe what I found out – you gotta look at this cam. Now, ok. Here we go…this was on the far side of dock 13, by the garbage chute. See it? Let me slow it down and replay. Now…look at the ship…the kriffing ship was masked, dear hearts. And guess what it’s masked as?” Sandrin triumphantly set the playback to slowest speed and grinned. “You see that? It’s only a few seconds, but look at the silhouettes – look familiar? The kriffing bastard was clever – he masked his Scorpion as the Falcon. Hux saw the Falcon, not the Scorpion.”

Iio began to feel lightheaded from the excitement of new possibilities pouring into her brain. “Sandrin, find the cam that captures the real Falcon. It was on the right side of the dock. Ok. No…two more bays down..ah. that’s it – there’s the skid mark as we hit main throttle; now what did Hux see? Oh shards of shite, a double cross…” she breathed, seeing the Scorpion shoot off from bay 62 where she remembered the Falcon was docked; it clear now that Kylo had done a masterful move, not only did he project himself in the banquet hall, he made all of the First Order think the Falcon was blown to bits with her mistress, Rey, and that he was on the run.  No wonder why Hux wasn’t actively hunting them.

Another thought occurred, frightening in its intensity, iio spoke hesitantly, almost dreading to voice her theory: “Sandrin…if…Kylo could project himself, and mask two ships, then why would he be so…so obvious as to be on his ship?” Sandrin’s bushy eyebrows raised and he suddenly attacked his keyboard, sending search strings for more facts. After receiving a file, he impassively turned the screen twords the group and spoke: “ He took off from the docking bay in the ship. But the black box caught something the Order didn’t. Look. Weight before takeoff – there.” He jabbed at the screen. “Weight 1 minute before plasma cannon command- there.” He ran his finger down and stopped, tapping the screen. “It’s subtle, but it’s there. He was a big guy, wasn’t he? About 90 kilos? I don’t think he was there. The weight changed by 88.45 Kilos.”

“Then he could have time shifted immediately after takeoff? Or…oh my stars, where did he go? If he shifted in space, then he could be anywhere! You know the Anderson-Dettering theory as well as I do, Sandrin! If you time shift in space, the destination is not bound by the 3 dimensions; the fourth will also be open, as the fabric of space is not stable as a world."

“ Ya got me, sweet supernova. What gets me is how he’d get back. Or when he’d return. The last recorded time shift in space took the crew of the StarSinger back two years in the past. Only two of twelve came back. But then, he's a powerful one. He just might be strong enough to time shift back. Maybe he even did his projection from the time shift destination. Maybe he was just waiting for something. A signal or message. Wasn't Rey trying to message him?”

iio's brain clicked at the last rambling thought: "Sandrin, I think you have a point - he told me that she time shifted once, and got lost. She did something different: Had the Force find his pattern, then told it return to sender, and jumped on for the ride. Shards, I bet she puked for days. What a mind scramble. Maybe he took a chance on that little shortcut." Her brow knotted in sudden concern; this was six months later, and they weren't First Order data analysts. She shoved Sandrin ungently, briskly donning shoes: “Hey. Maybe we should look for Rey and tell her. It could be that she or I could be tailed by the F.O., if they managed to figure any of this out before we did. If there's one thing I know about Hux, he is a vindictive bastard. Did she take a weapon, Steele?”

“Yup. She took her lightsaber.”

“Ok, get me the other one, and we’ll go. Call a transport.”

Moments later Steele was in the weapons storage closet by the door, and suddenly breathless, called back to iio: ” Hey, the other isn’t here. Did anyone move it? I swear I saw it last night, I scanned the closet before we settled in. Look.” He held out a tablet with a visual list glowing amber on the screen.

Everyone shrugged, and puzzled, began to search furiously, now afraid that something not-right was happening. They were such fools for not being more careful with their last remaining hope, the slim desert girl who had commanded the heart of a knight.

In a rare moment of foresight, it hit Steele first. He slapped his head and sat wearily, laughing: ”Ohhh….I am so outclassed by a dead man. Shards, and she’s soooo cute. Pour me a drink, iio? I feel like wallowing in self-pity and romance tonight.”

Iio, Sandrin and the rest of the small troupe looked askance at each other as it sank in. They began to have a glimmer in their eyes, a faint shine of hope,  before iio replied to their little brother merrily: “Well. We’d better have the party started, yes? Call for champagne, my star-heart supernovas. I hear we’re in for a looong night.”


	17. Chapter 17

Rey tilted her head back, looking at the vast sky of Canto Bight above her head, musing at its pale blue tint, so pallid, unlike her home on Jakku. She automatically imagined herself on a desert in Jakku, the heat seeping into her bones as the sun shone with golden intensity in the cerulean sky, a color she longed for , almost as much as she longed for the dark fire of her dead lover’s eyes. She wearily opened her lids and sighed.

_This is your reality now. Accept it. The sky will never be the same shade of blue again._

_You left without saying goodbye, Ben…Kylo…oh by the force, what a thing you did for all of us! But you left me. How can I go on without you? I have no enemy. I have no lover. There is nothing to inspire me, goad me to be part of life. All I see is…existence in the years to come. You’ve jailed me, you…kriffing bastard.  I’ll never be able to stand having another man touch me now._

“Oh, Precisely.”

_Just like you to make me remember, now you’re gone you slinking cat-rat…_ Enraged, Rey unsheathed her lightsaber and began to hack at the rocks and trees, fighting the memory of him, the endless fearful void of life without the perfect partner she felt but never acknowledged, the damned, foolish, stupid, prideful resistance to all of it, until she was exhausted, sweat running down her face, mixing with the tears. She wildly looked around at the unfamiliar wilderness of rolling plains and primally screamed: “Why? WHY? WHYWHYWHY? Where the kriff are you?”

She broke. The saber dropped, her voice choked, like the 7 year old watching an empty sky: “Why aren’t you here, my one?”

“Why does this mean anything to you or I?  The Force is infinite and ours. We have an eternity to play these games of love and death.”

_I’m crazy. It’s like he’s still here._ “I…I need you……I….love you. Come back. Please come back. I love you.”

The rasp of a lightsaber being drawn and a swirl of ruby attacked her senses suddenly; she automatically feinted then parried, but is blocked. Windswept dark hair against a pale moon of a face shocks her; the saber is pulled from her grasp and arcs onto the ground, lying there sparking, as her heart is now.

Hazel tiger’s eye gems, sparkling with sheer joy, meet a deeper teakwood brown gleaming with its own rapturous, fiery adulation.

Bliss.

**_Postscript:_ **

A liquid sound escaped a pair of satiny lips as he stopped the gentle movements and savage clairvoyances that brought his beloved to the state she was now in; he leaned forward and delivered his own seal on her fate: “…If you let any other man between your legs  like this, I’ll make sure you never forget why you’re mine alone..”  The movements became savage and the caressing thoughts whispering in her mind wove an invisible net about her until she was completely captivated, hanging onto self-control by a monofilament. 

“What do we say now, Rey?” He tsk’d gently, hoping for that one word from his queen that begged so prettily in his ear.

“Now.”


End file.
